We received comments from the public, Indigenous communities, business and industry associations, environmental and conservation organizations, academics, municipalities, and other interested stakeholders. require evaluators to notify landowners that a wetland evaluation is being conducted on their propertyĬhanges were made to both the OWES southern and northern manuals.Ĭonsultation on the proposed changes to the OWES took place from Octoto November 24, 2022.require that evaluators send the final wetland boundary mapping and wetland status to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry within 30 days for upload to Land Information Ontario.the evaluation would be considered final once a trained evaluator attests that they have undertaken an evaluation in accordance with OWES.

other housekeeping edits to ensure consistency with the above changes throughout the manualĪdditionally, in response to comments received, we’ve made the following clarifications:.changes made to better recognize the professional opinion of wetland evaluators and the role of local decision makers (e.g., municipalities).the addition of new guidance related to re-evaluation of wetlands and updates to mapping of evaluated wetland boundaries.The changes made include and come into effect on January 1, 2023: Over the last decade in particular, we have heard practitioners voice concerns and recommendations for improvements to how Ontario’s significant wetlands are assessed and identified.īased on the input received from the public, businesses, environmental and conservation organizations, municipalities, and Indigenous peoples, we have made a decision on Decemto proceed with changes to the OWES as originally proposed. Coastal wetlands are also evaluated using these OWES manuals. The OWES consists of two manuals: the Southern OWES (used to evaluate wetlands located in Ecoregions 6 and 7) and the Northern OWES (used to evaluate wetlands located in Ecoregions 2, 3, 4, and 5). OWES defines a significant wetland as any evaluated wetland that scores 600 or more points in total, or that scores 200 or more points in either the biological component or the special features component. The OWES assesses wetlands under four categories: biological, social, hydrological, and special features. determine the boundaries of significant wetlands.determine the wetlands that are significant.Under Ontario’s current policy framework, an evaluated wetland is a wetland that has been assessed according to the Ontario Wetland Evaluation System ( OWES). A decision was made on Decemto proceed with the proposal as described.

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