News

2025 MCEA Monitoring Report Now Available:

The MCEA Monitoring Committee has submitted its annual monitoring report regarding the MCEA Process to the MECP.  To view it, CLICK HERE.

 

Introduction to MCEA Workshop: June 10 – 12 2025

The course material was updated to include discussion about MECP’s proposal to revoke the MCEA and replace it with a new MPAP regulation.   Attendees discovered how best to proceed with MCEA projects in these changing times.    Watch for an announcement in during the winter of 2026 about further MCEA training opportunities.

 

Current Version of the MECP's MCEA Document and the MEA’s MCEA Users Guide

MEA prepared and released a User Guide in September 2023 that works with the 2023 MCEA Manual. However, in February 2024, MECP approved an amendment to the 2023 MCEA and the the MEA's MCEA User Guide is no longer 100% current. The February 2024 amendments to the MCEA will not likely impact most municipal projects. A tracked change version of the recent amendments to the Municipal Class EA (MCEA) is available HERE. 

 

MECP felt that the amendments to the MCEA were essential to align it properly with the EAA amendments and associated regulatory changes and related actions which came into force on February 22, 2024. The following are the examples of complementary amendments made to the MCEA:

• Clarifying that the municipal expressway projects are subject to the Class EA for Provincial Transportation Facilities and Municipal Expressways.
• Adding references to new regulations and removing references to regulations that are revoked, including:
  • O. Reg. 101/07 (Waste Management Projects), O. Reg. 116/01 (Electricity Projects), Regulation 334 (General) and O. Reg. 345/93 (Designation and Exemption - Private Sector Developers)
  • Certain provisions of the O. Reg. 345/93 are carried forward in O. Reg. 53/24 General and Transitional Matters Regulation.
• Addressing regulatory changes to municipal transit projects including: o Updating definitions and designations to better align with the new Comprehensive EA Project Regulation (O. Reg 50/24) including removing municipal transit projects which are exempt.
• Aligning the content of the MCEA with other provisions of the EAA that came into force in recent years, as well as other legislation. For example:
  • Removing references to A and A+ projects as those project schedules no longer exist and A and A+ projects became exempt projects.

 

MEA's MCEA User Guide (September 2023):

The MCEA User Guide (September 2023) includes the 2023 MCEA document with appended notes providing useful interpretation, tips, and advice on the amended MCEA for practitioners.  

The MCEA User Guide is a copyright protected document by MEA and is currently available for purchase in hard copy format only.  To order the hardcopy version, CLICK HERE.

Note:  You will need to login in order to order the manual.  Shipping of the MCEA User Guide is estimated at 7-10 business days.

 

 

 

MEA understands that MECP still intends to revoke the MCEA and introduce a MPAP regulation soon. The current (2024) MCEA will remain in effect until such time as a new regulation is made. The current posting (New regulation to focus municipal environmental assessment requirements | Environmental Registry of Ontario) is only a proposal at this stage and proponents must continue to follow the MCEA in order to meet their EA Act requirements  

 

Upcoming MCEA Webinars:

for more information on upcoming MCEA webinars and to register, CLICK HERE   

 

General Information Webinar - Highlights of the MCEA Amendment:

The MEA hosted a free webinar on March 27, 2023 that provided a general  overview of the recently approved 2023 MCEA Amendment. 

To view a recording of the webinar, CLICK HERE