City councillors in Kingston are urging both the federal and provincial governments to conduct a feasibility study for establishing a protected marine area in Lake Ontario.
A motion approved by the council on Tuesday states that this assessment is crucial to “evaluate the suitability of Lake Ontario for the establishment of a national marine conservation area (NMCA), including the potential environmental, economic and social benefits of such a designation.”
Coun. Lisa Osanic mentioned to that she introduced the motion after receiving a request from Nature Canada. She expressed that the timing was particularly significant with municipal elections approaching.
NMCAs are designated protected marine and freshwater ecosystems located within the Atlantic, Pacific, Arctic oceans, and the Great Lakes. As per Parks Canada, there are currently five NMCAs across Canada, covering six of the 29 identified marine regions in their NMCA system plan.
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Julia Laforge, campaign manager for protected areas at Nature Canada, shared with that NMCAs primarily focus on ecological protection.
“In Lake Ontario, this could mean migratory bird pathways for birds arriving from southern regions annually. It could also include fish nurseries in those waters,” she stated. “NMCAs serve as an effective tool because they aim to protect cultural heritage within a region as well.”
Parks Canada committed in 2021 to create ten new marine and four new freshwater NMCAs by 2030. These protected zones would contribute toward Canada’s goal of safeguarding biodiversity and conserving 30 percent of its coastal and marine areas by that year.
Nature Canada
Parks Canada intends on establishing NMCAs throughout all five Great Lakes; presently existing NMCAs can be found in Lake Superior and Lake Huron.
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Laforge added that due to both federal and provincial oversight over Great Lakes matters requires signing a Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) with Ontario before any feasibility assessment can begin.
“Parks Canada has access to funding now while expressing interest in protecting Great Lakes,” she explained further.
“We simply need provincial cooperation during negotiations.” This is what councillors from Kingston are requesting alongside hopes from Nature Canada that additional communities bordering Lake Ontario will join them. “It’s not like everything gets decided behind closed doors once there’s a province involved-after signing an MOU; it opens up discussions about conducting feasibility studies where everyone locally gets input,” Laforge clarified. The Ontario Ministry of Environment，Conservation，and Parks did not respond before publication when contacted by . © 2026 ，a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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Get daily Canada news delivered to your inbox so you’ll never miss the day’s top stories. The Government of Canada previously set an interim target aiming for 25 percent protection by 2025; however, that goal wasn’t achieved. Parks Canada’s report indicated that only 15.5 percent of marine areas were classified as conserved by late 2024, which included just 11.4 percent deemed protected. In 2022, Nature Canada began advocating for an NMCA in Lake Ontario alongside many other nature groups, businesses, and community organizations. They initially aimed for completion of this assessment by late 2025 to align with federal objectives. Creating an NMCA in Lake Ontario may affect recreational activities on the lake. According to Parks Canada’s guidelines regarding NMCA management, it “conducts assessments on recreational activity and special events related to proposed new uses within NMCAs to ensure consistency with CNMCAA (Canada National Marine Conservation Areas Act), management plans along with other relevant legislation.” Story continues below The restrictions imposed will depend on how each zone within the conservation area is defined. These limitations can range from prohibiting fishing completely along with recreational activities, hunting or trapping in Zone 1 to permitting all recreational activities as well as commercial fisheries and renewable energy projects in Zone 4. No artificial reefs or bottom trawling or oil/gas projects will be allowed across any zones. Though no assessment has been finalized yet, Laforge noted some developments show promise moving forward. More on Environment More videos This past year saw the federal government announce $3.8 billion allocated towards conservation efforts while reaffirming commitment towards creating new conservation areas. “I think time is running short since there’s funding available now,” Laforge commented. “This presents an opportunity essentially to restart efforts and advance this process.”“Parks Canada has access to funding now while expressing interest in protecting Great Lakes,” she explained further.
“We simply need provincial cooperation during negotiations.” This is what councillors from Kingston are requesting alongside hopes from Nature Canada that additional communities bordering Lake Ontario will join them. “It’s not like everything gets decided behind closed doors once there’s a province involved-after signing an MOU; it opens up discussions about conducting feasibility studies where everyone locally gets input,” Laforge clarified. The Ontario Ministry of Environment，Conservation，and Parks did not respond before publication when contacted by . © 2026 ，a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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