The province has begun moving conservation authorities to a regional framework, and it reaches every conservation authority in Ontario — including the three with Mississauga members. Under section 1.14 of the Conservation Authorities Act the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks has issued two Directions. The first, effective 1 May 2026 and running to the transition date the Act sets at 1 February 2027 or a later prescribed day, prohibits an authority from deciding a listed matter unless it obtains written authorization from the chief executive officer of the Ontario Provincial Conservation Agency — amending the authority's own by-laws made under section 19.1 other than administrative amendments, entering service agreements longer than two years or worth more than the lesser of $500,000 and five per cent of its operating expenses (services it acquires) or of its revenues (services it provides), and capital costs and acquisitions of personal property above the lesser of $500,000 and five per cent of its tangible capital assets, or leases longer than two years, unless contemplated in the authority's approved 2026 budget and within the budgeted amount. Appendix A to that Direction lists the authorities it applies to — all 36 in the province — so Credit Valley Conservation, Conservation Halton and the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority are all on it. The Region of Peel appointed four Mississauga councillors to Credit Valley, two to Conservation Halton and two to Toronto and Region, for terms ending 14 November 2026. The second Direction, issued 26 June 2026, covers budget and apportionment matters and is stated to preserve operational and budget continuity through the transition; the Ministry says it will assess whether changes are needed and will consider amendments to the budget and apportionment regulations in the fall of 2026, where appropriate. Ontario says it is consolidating 36 conservation authorities into nine. This entry records powers being used, not their outcome: no direction by the Agency itself under section 35.21 is cited here, and the separate cost-recovery power at section 35.26 still awaits an order of the Lieutenant Governor in Council. Corrected 2026-10-01: this entry gave one threshold, "five per cent of its revenues", for service agreements and said capital costs and leases were "above the same thresholds"; the Direction uses operating expenses, revenues and tangible capital assets respectively. Updated 2026-10-01: the consolidation this entry describes as stated by Ontario had been enacted by Bill 97 on 2026-04-24, two months before it; see the entry of that date. Corrected 2026-10-08: this entry said "the two Mississauga appoints members to" and "Mississauga Council appointed five of its members to the first and two to the second in 2022". Mississauga councillors sit on three authorities, the Region of Peel makes the appointments, and four Mississauga members sit on Credit Valley.
The conservation authorities and who now directs them
The tension: Bill 97, whose merger provisions took effect on Royal Assent on 24 April 2026, merges the three conservation authorities with Mississauga members — Credit Valley, Conservation Halton, and Toronto and Region — into two new regional authorities on 1 February 2027 or a later date set by regulation. For Mississauga's territory their members are appointed by the Region of Peel, as they already are: Peel's council appointed four Mississauga councillors to Credit Valley, two to Toronto and Region and two to Conservation Halton, on terms ending 14 November 2026 or until successors are appointed. Over the old authorities and the new ones sits the Ontario Provincial Conservation Agency, in force since 27 November 2025, which may direct authorities on budgeting, procurement, training, asset management and strategic planning and may set fees, including in respect of its directions. Its board is appointed entirely by the Lieutenant Governor in Council, and the Minister may direct it by an instrument the Legislation Act's regulation-making rules expressly do not apply to.
Mississauga councillors sit on three conservation authorities: Credit Valley, Toronto and Region, and Conservation Halton. The Region of Peel appoints them. A 2026 provincial law merges all three into two new regional authorities on 1 February 2027, or a later date set by regulation, and Peel will appoint those members too.
Over the old authorities and the new ones sits the Ontario Provincial Conservation Agency, in force since November 2025. It may direct them on budgeting, procurement and strategic planning, and may set fees. Its board is appointed entirely by the province.
What Mississauga can decide is what it asks of the people appointed for its territory, and what it does when a direction reaches a body its residents fund. The questions below test both.
Resolution Options
Questions you can ask
To: allThe Region of Peel appoints Mississauga's members to its conservation authorities, and will appoint the members of the two new regional authorities that replace Credit Valley Conservation, Conservation Halton and Toronto and Region on 1 February 2027, unless a regulation sets a later date. Will you commit to pressing for those appointments to be made at an open meeting with a recorded vote, and to the City publishing what it expects Peel's appointees to defend?
To: mayoralThe Agency may direct conservation authorities on budgeting and may set fees, including in respect of its directions, and those fees are not public money under the Financial Administration Act. An authority's costs are apportioned to its participating municipalities, which for the new authorities means, for Mississauga, the Region of Peel — though the Ministry's guidance says 2027 apportionment will follow existing methods and apply to each authority's current participating municipalities. If a direction raises what Mississauga's residents pay through Peel, or changes a service the City relies on, what does the City do? Name the instrument and who invokes it.
To: allOn the transition date — 1 February 2027 unless a regulation sets a later one — Credit Valley Conservation joins the Halton, Hamilton and Niagara Peninsula authorities in the new Western Lake Ontario Regional Conservation Authority, whose members are appointed by its participating municipalities. By what mechanism would Mississauga state a position on what its watersheds need from the new authority, and would you support Council doing so before the Region of Peel makes its appointments rather than after?
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The full story
What the province did
Schedule 3 of Bill 68 — the same budget bill that repealed Ontario’s climate-target duty — created the Ontario Provincial Conservation Agency as a Crown agent, in force on Royal Assent, 27 November 2025.
Its objects include overseeing the governance and operations of conservation authorities; overseeing “the transition to a regional watershed-based framework”; promoting consistent policies, standards and fees; overseeing and evaluating authorities’ financial performance; guiding and evaluating their strategic planning “to ensure it aligns with provincial objectives”; and supporting a standardized, centralized system for processing permit applications.
The Agency’s board is five to twelve members, all appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council, and regulations may lower both the minimum and the maximum.
The Minister may direct the Agency. Section 35.16: “Where the Minister considers it to be in the public interest to do so, the Minister may issue directions to the Agency”, and “The Agency shall comply with every direction of the Minister within the time specified in the direction” (as amended from 24 April 2026). Part III (Regulations) of the Legislation Act, 2006 does not apply to those directions, though they must be published on a website, and a conflicting Act or regulation prevails.
The Agency may direct the authorities. Section 35.21 lets it issue directions governing their operations, including key performance indicators, service standards, information technology, procurement, training, budgeting, asset management plans and strategic planning — after a notice period to the Minister, 45 days unless the regulations prescribe another, during which the Minister may direct the Agency about its own proposed direction or tell it that it may proceed sooner.
It may charge for this. The Agency may establish and require fees, including in respect of a direction, and those amounts are not public money within the meaning of the Financial Administration Act. A cost-recovery power letting it apportion its costs to the authorities is enacted but not yet in force — it awaits an order of the Lieutenant Governor in Council.
What it did not do
Schedule 3 also repeals four subsections of the Act — ss. 23.1(9) and (10), and 23.3(5) and (6). These were immunity provisions, protecting an investigator or an administrator from proceedings for good-faith acts, and their Crown-liability carve-backs. They are replaced by a broader consolidated immunity regime in new sections 39.1 to 39.4 (Part IX). Reading their repeal as the removal of a public safeguard would be wrong, and this entry records that because the opposite reading is the natural one.
The transition is already running, and it reaches both of Mississauga’s authorities
Added 2026-08-25. This section did not exist when the issue was published, and its absence is why the closing section below had to be corrected.
The Agency’s own powers under Part VIII.1 are not the only lever in force. Section 1.14 of the Conservation Authorities Act lets the Minister direct a conservation authority to facilitate the transition to a regional watershed-based framework — a different power from the Agency’s, and one that is already being used.
Two Directions are in force, and the first applies to all 36 conservation authorities in Ontario — Credit Valley Conservation, Conservation Halton and the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority among them, the three with Mississauga members until the transition date. The Direction is province-wide, not aimed at this city’s authorities. What makes it a Mississauga question is that Mississauga councillors sit on those boards.
- Effective 1 May 2026, and running to the transition date — “February 1, 2027 or such later date as may be prescribed by the regulations” — an authority may not decide a listed matter unless it obtains written authorization from the chief executive officer of the Ontario Provincial Conservation Agency. The list includes amending the authority’s by-laws made under s.19.1, other than administrative amendments; service agreements running beyond two years or worth more than the lesser of $500,000 and 5% of the authority’s operating expenses (services it acquires) or of its revenues (services it provides); and capital costs and acquisitions of personal property above the lesser of $500,000 and 5% of its tangible capital assets, or leases longer than two years, unless contemplated in the authority’s approved 2026 budget and within the budgeted amount.
- Issued 26 June 2026, a second Direction under the same section covers budget and apportionment matters, stated to “preserve operational and budget process continuity through the transition to a regional governance model.” The Ministry says it will assess whether the budget and apportionment regulations need changes and will consider amendments in fall 2026, “where appropriate”.
The first is signed by the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks; the second is issued under the Minister’s authority under clauses 1.14(1)(c) and (d). Each records that it “may be amended in writing from time to time at the sole discretion of the Minister.”
The merger is law, and Peel keeps the appointments
Bill 97, the Plan to Protect Ontario Act (Budget Measures), 2026, received Royal Assent on 24 April 2026. Its Schedule 3 adds a Part I.1 to the Conservation Authorities Act. On the transition date — “February 1, 2027 or such later date as may be prescribed by the regulations” — the authorities in the Act’s table are “amalgamated and continued” as new regional authorities:
- Credit Valley Conservation, with the Halton Region, Hamilton Region and Niagara Peninsula authorities, becomes the Western Lake Ontario Regional Conservation Authority.
- Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, with Central Lake Ontario, becomes the Central Lake Ontario Regional Conservation Authority.
Who appoints does not change. “The participating municipalities of a new authority shall be the single-tier municipalities and the upper-tier municipalities that are located in whole or in part within its area of jurisdiction.” Mississauga is a lower-tier municipality in the Region of Peel, so for both new authorities the participating municipality is Peel, as it already is for the current three (below). A further section, enacted but not yet in force (it awaits an order of the Lieutenant Governor in Council), would have Peel’s council appoint the first members “No later than the day immediately before the transition date”, in a number set by regulation in proportion to population, for terms of up to four years. An authority’s capital and operating costs are apportioned to its participating municipalities (ss. 25 and 27).
What it leaves open. How many members Peel will appoint is for regulation; whether Mississauga’s councillors will be among them is for Peel; whether the transition date moves is for regulation. None of the three is established here.
Why this is a Mississauga question
Because Mississauga councillors sit on all three boards, and the Region of Peel puts them there. Where a regional municipality exists, the Conservation Authorities Act makes it the participating municipality in place of its local municipalities (s. 4(1), quoted on Peel’s appointments page), so Mississauga Council chooses its members and Peel’s council appoints them.
- Mississauga Council chose its members on 16 November 2022. Resolution 0220-2022 named Councillors Dasko (Ward 1), Tedjo (Ward 2), Damerla (Ward 7), Mahoney (Ward 8) and Butt (Ward 11) for Credit Valley Conservation. Resolution 0221-2022 named Councillors Dasko and Fonseca (Ward 3) for Toronto and Region.
- Peel’s council made the appointments on 8 December 2022. Resolution 2022-843 appointed Councillors Dasko and Fonseca to Toronto and Region. Resolution 2022-841 appointed two Mississauga councillors to Conservation Halton, Sue McFadden (Ward 10) and Alvin Tedjo. Conservation Halton’s watershed takes in about 4% of the city.
- Credit Valley accepted only four Mississauga members, so on 12 January 2023 Peel’s council appointed four of the City’s five nominees: Councillors Damerla, Dasko, Mahoney and Tedjo (Resolution 2023-24).
- One Credit Valley seat changed hands on 13 February 2025. Councillor Mahoney resigned from the board, and Peel’s council appointed Councillor Butt (Ward 11) in his place, “for a term ending November 14, 2026, or until a successor is appointed by Regional Council” (Resolution 2025-90). So Mississauga’s four Credit Valley members are Councillors Damerla, Dasko, Butt and Tedjo. Added 2026-10-09; Peel’s own boards page still listed Councillor Mahoney that day.
All of these terms run to 14 November 2026, “or until their successors are appointed by Regional Council”. The members of the new authorities will be Peel’s to appoint as well.
Corrected 2026-10-08. This section said the City appoints: “By Resolution 0220-2022, Council appointed Councillors Dasko (Ward 1), Tedjo (Ward 2), Damerla (Ward 7), Mahoney (Ward 8) and Butt (Ward 11) to Credit Valley Conservation”, and the page said Bill 97 “moves the appointment of members to Mississauga’s conservation authorities from the City to the Region of Peel”. The Region of Peel already makes these appointments; the City’s resolutions chose its members. Credit Valley has four Mississauga members, not five, and Mississauga also has two members on Conservation Halton.
So the question is not whether Mississauga can overrule a provincial Agency. It cannot. The question is what the City asks of the people appointed for its territory, and what it does when a direction reaches a body its residents fund.
What this issue does not say
It does not say the Agency has directed anything. That distinction is narrow and it is real: the Directions described above are the Minister directing authorities under s.1.14, not the Agency directing an authority under s.35.21. No direction by the Agency itself is cited here.
Corrected 2026-08-25. This section previously read “It does not say the regional restructuring has begun; that is an object of the Agency, not a completed act.” Two Ministerial Directions were already in force — the first since 1 May 2026 — a transition date of 1 February 2027 was already set, and the consolidation of 36 authorities into nine was already announced. The restructuring has begun. What had not begun, and still has not so far as this entry knows, is any exercise of the Agency’s own Part VIII.1 powers.
It does not say the cost-recovery power at s.35.26 is in force — that awaits an order of the Lieutenant Governor in Council. It makes no claim about any councillor beyond the fact of appointment by resolution.
Where this meets flooding. Conservation authorities draw the flood lines that decide which properties are treated as at risk, and Mississauga’s Official Plan 2051 leaves the authoritative line to them. Who decides how the City adapts to flooding, and whether Council sees a redrawn line before it takes effect, is on its own page. The two pages share a mechanism, appointment to a body that advises on floods, and ask different questions about it.
Fact-check
A NEW PROVINCIAL AGENCY MAY DIRECT THE CONSERVATION AUTHORITIES MISSISSAUGA HELPS POPULATE, IN FORCE 2025-11-27. Schedule 3 of Bill 68, the Plan to Protect Ontario Act (Budget Measures), 2025 (No. 2), adds Part VIII.1 to the Conservation Authorities Act establishing the Ontario Provincial Conservation Agency as a corporation without share capital (s.35.1) and as an agent of the Crown (s.35.2). Its objects (s.35.4) include overseeing the governance and operations of authorities, overseeing 'the transition to a regional watershed-based framework', promoting consistent policies standards and fees, overseeing and evaluating authorities' financial performance, guiding and evaluating their strategic planning 'to ensure it aligns with provincial objectives', and supporting a standardized and centralized system for processing permit applications. Its board is five to twelve members ALL APPOINTED BY THE LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR IN COUNCIL (s.35.6), and regulations may lower both bounds. The Minister may issue directions to the Agency where the Minister considers it in the public interest, the Agency 'shall comply with every direction of the Minister within the time specified in the direction' (as amended from 2026-04-24 by S.O. 2026, c. 2, Sched. 3, s. 17), and PART III (REGULATIONS) OF THE LEGISLATION ACT, 2006 DOES NOT APPLY to those directions, though they must be published (s.35.16). The Agency may direct one or more authorities on operations including key performance indicators, service standards, information technology, procurement, training, budgeting, asset management plans and strategic planning, after a notice period to the Minister of 45 days unless the regulations prescribe another (s.35.21). It may establish and require fees including in respect of a direction, and those amounts are NOT PUBLIC MONEY under the Financial Administration Act. A cost-recovery power apportioning the Agency's costs to authorities is enacted but awaits an LGIC order. THE MUNICIPAL LINK (corrected 2026-10-08): Mississauga councillors sit on three conservation authorities, and the REGION OF PEEL appoints them — under Conservation Authorities Act s.4(1) a regional municipality is the participating municipality in place of its local municipalities. Mississauga Council chose its members by RESOLUTIONS 0220-2022 (Credit Valley: Dasko, Tedjo, Damerla, Mahoney, Butt) and 0221-2022 (Toronto and Region: Dasko, Fonseca); Peel Regional Council appointed by RESOLUTIONS 2022-841 (Conservation Halton: McFadden, Tedjo), 2022-843 (Toronto and Region: Dasko, Fonseca), and, after Credit Valley accepted only four Mississauga members, 2023-24 (Credit Valley: Damerla, Dasko, Mahoney, Tedjo) and, after Mahoney resigned, 2025-90 of 2025-02-13 (Credit Valley: Butt in his place), all for terms ending 2026-11-14 'or until their successors are appointed by Regional Council'. Previously this read 'by RESOLUTION 0220-2022 Mississauga Council appointed five of its members to Credit Valley Conservation … after which the Region of Peel appoints'. Peel appoints after the transition date too (below). BILL 97 ENACTED THE MERGER, 2026-04-24 (added 2026-10-01). Schedule 3 of Bill 97, the Plan to Protect Ontario Act (Budget Measures), 2026 (S.O. 2026, c. 2, assented 2026-04-24), adds Part I.1 to the Conservation Authorities Act. On the transition date, 'February 1, 2027 or such later date as may be prescribed by the regulations' (s.1.2(1)), the predecessor authorities in the Table to s.1.3 are 'amalgamated and continued': Credit Valley, Halton Region, Hamilton Region and Niagara Peninsula as the Western Lake Ontario Regional Conservation Authority (item 8); Central Lake Ontario and Toronto and Region as the Central Lake Ontario Regional Conservation Authority (item 1). 'The participating municipalities of a new authority shall be the single-tier municipalities and the upper-tier municipalities that are located in whole or in part within its area of jurisdiction' (s.1.3(3) para 17) — for Mississauga's territory, the Region of Peel. Its council would appoint the first members 'No later than the day immediately before the transition date', in a number set by regulation in proportion to population, minimum one, terms up to four years (s.1.5) — but s.1.5 is enacted and NOT IN FORCE: it awaits an LGIC order (2026, c. 2, Sched. 3, s. 3 (1, 2) - not in force). Costs are apportioned to participating municipalities (ss.25(1), 27(1)). NOT ESTABLISHED: the number Peel appoints; whether Mississauga's councillors are among them; whether the transition date moves. ⚠️ EXPLICITLY NOT ASSERTED: that the four repealed subsections were safeguards — ss.23.1(9)-(10) and 23.3(5)-(6) were IMMUNITY provisions for investigators and administrators, consolidated into new ss.39.1-39.4; that the AGENCY has issued any direction under s.35.21; and any effect on a named permit, project or ward. Corrected 2026-08-25: this clause previously also disclaimed 'that the regional restructuring has begun'. Two Ministerial Directions under s.1.14 of the Conservation Authorities Act were already in force — the first effective 2026-05-01, prohibiting a listed decision without written authorization from the OPCA CEO and naming Credit Valley and Toronto and Region in Appendix A; the second issued 2026-06-26 on budget and apportionment — with a transition date of 2027-02-01 and a stated consolidation of 36 authorities into nine. The Minister-directs-authorities power (s.1.14) is distinct from the Agency-directs-authority power (s.35.21), and only the latter remains unexercised so far as this entry knows.
Developments
Bill 97, the Plan to Protect Ontario Act (Budget Measures), 2026, received Royal Assent and added a Part I.1 to the Conservation Authorities Act that merges the conservation authorities Mississauga councillors sit on into regional ones. The Region of Peel appoints their members for Mississauga's territory, as it already did. On the transition date — "February 1, 2027 or such later date as may be prescribed by the regulations" — Credit Valley Conservation is amalgamated with the Halton Region, Hamilton Region and Niagara Peninsula authorities into the Western Lake Ontario Regional Conservation Authority, and the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority with Central Lake Ontario into the Central Lake Ontario Regional Conservation Authority. The new authorities' participating municipalities are "the single-tier municipalities and the upper-tier municipalities" within their areas; Mississauga is a lower-tier municipality in Peel. A further section, not yet in force and awaiting an order of the Lieutenant Governor in Council, would have Peel's council appoint the first members no later than the day before the transition date, in a number set by regulation in proportion to population; the authorities' costs are apportioned to participating municipalities. Not established here: how many members Peel will appoint, whether Mississauga's councillors will be among them, and whether the transition date moves. Recorded 2026-10-01, when the enacted text was first read for this site. Corrected 2026-10-08: this entry said the Act merges "Mississauga's two conservation authorities" and "moves the appointment of their members from the City to the Region of Peel". Mississauga councillors sit on three authorities, including the Halton Region authority, Conservation Halton, and the Region of Peel already appointed all of them.