Ontario's Environmental Leaders Program

Program Overview

Being an environmental leader has its built-in rewards: under a new Ministry of the Environment initiative, your facility may be eligible to be recognized for its leadership, and receive a number of other incentives. And if that’s not reward enough, leaving your competition far behind may just be the clincher.

The Ministry is now accepting applications for Ontario’s Environmental Leaders Program. If your facility is an environmental leader, Ontario’s Ministry of the Environment would like to hear from you — and help you get the recognition you deserve.

Participants are eligible for a comprehensive suite of incentives. These incentives will bring significant benefits to facilities, including increased efficiency, recognition, and an opportunity to forge a specialized relationship with the Ministry, while improving environmental results.

The Ministry offers incentives aimed at improving efficiency, long range planning, and flexibility, such as:

• Enhanced comprehensive Certificates of Approval;
• Guaranteed 45-day turn-around time for amendments to Certificates of Approval;
• Technical assistance;
• Single window access to the Ministry, with a dedicated customer service representative;
• Faster decisions on applications for new technologies; and
• Greater regulatory certainty.

The Ministry offers incentives to recognize environmental leadership through;

• Public acknowledgement in appropriate Ministry communications; and
• Recognition on the Ministry’s web site.

The Ministry offers incentives designed to provide participants with enhanced opportunities to shape government regulations and policies:

• Participation in the development of other incentives; and phase two of the initiative; and,
• Invitation to industry-government round tables.

While individual facilities are the ones that implement emissions reductions and reap the program’s rewards, companies and industry associations can also participate in the Environmental Leaders Program. Under a company-wide or industry association leadership agreement, individual facilities apply to opt-in to the program, meeting all applicable entry requirements.

In order to participate, facilities must have an Environmental Management System and a good environmental compliance record, and complete an emissions inventory. Facilities then work with the Ministry to develop a reduction plan for three to five priority substances. In addition to reduction targets, participants must publicly report on their progress and commit to a communications and outreach plan.

The Environmental Leaders Program is a new way to improve environmental management in Ontario. The Ministry believes that building relationships and sharing the responsibility for environmental performance will improve success in managing the environment for today and future generations. This program is a new Ministry tool that will promote the spirit of cooperation in environmental management. The Environmental Leaders Program provides opportunities for facilities to demonstrate their commitment to this principle.