Scarborough Bluffs West Project: Environmental Assessment Agreement - by Councillor Paul Ainslie, seconded by Councillor Paula Fletcher

City Council also requested Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) to include the Project as part of the 2022 Budget process and directed the City Manager to enter into an agreement with TRCA to complete the Project. The Project commenced on November 2, 2023 and following completion of several rounds of consultation through 2024, the Draft Terms of Reference (ToR) was released for public comment and agency review in July 2024. In fall 2024, after reviewing the Draft ToR, the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) contacted the Project team to confirm whether all future design options would meet the recently updated 2024 Environmental Assessment regulations. These new rules require at least 1 km of altered shoreline and 4 hectares of lakefill for a Comprehensive Environmental Assessment (CEA) to be mandatory. The Project team explained that not all future design alternatives would meet these thresholds, given that the intent of the Project is to explore a wide range of reasonable options, including tableland solutions and/or shoreline solutions that could be less than 1 km in total length or 4 hectares of lakefill. Subsequently, the Project team requested to voluntarily continue with the CEA process to undertake the same high level of technical analysis and thorough public consultation that have been applied to other waterfront projects, and to conform to the requirements of the City's Official Plan. The Project team has received MECP approval to proceed with a Voluntary Agreement to continue through the CEA process, which requires execution from both TRCA and the City as co-proponents on the Project.