Grey County is preparing for a significant new expense as the province looks to merge Ontario’s 36 conservation authorities into nine regional bodies. County council agreed on June 25, 2026, to include a $2.8 million placeholder in its 2028 draft budget to cover its share of funding for the new Lake Huron Regional Conservation Authority.
The decision comes as the Ontario government moves to consolidate conservation authorities by February 1, 2027, shifting funding responsibility from local municipalities to upper-tier counties like Grey. Most of the county will fall under the Lake Huron authority, which combines six current conservation offices: Grey Sauble, Saugeen Valley, Maitland Valley, Nottawasaga Valley, Ausable Bayfield, and Lake Simcoe Region. A small southeastern portion will be covered by the Eastern Lake Erie Regional Conservation Authority.
Deputy CAO Niall Lobley cautioned that the $2.8 million figure is a rough estimate. “It could be significantly too much and it could be significantly too little,” he told council, noting the final number depends on budgets and cost-sharing formulas that are not yet known. Currently, lower-tier municipalities in Grey County collectively pay about $2.5 million to $2.7 million to conservation authorities. After factoring in inflation, staff recommended the higher placeholder amount.
The restructuring also raises concerns about local representation. Grey County is expected to receive just one seat on a 14- or 15-member board for the new Lake Huron authority, down from the 26 municipal representatives who currently serve across the local conservation authorities. Deputy CAO Niall Lobley noted that the county also has no seat on the transition committees shaping the consolidation.
Provincial officials have committed $20 million to manage the transition, plus $3 million in ongoing annual funding for the newly created Ontario Provincial Conservation Agency, which will oversee the regional bodies. However, the province cut conservation authority funding by $3.5 million in 2019, and local leaders worry that smaller rural areas like Grey will be overshadowed by larger urban centres in the new setup. With the shift to upper-tier funding, county ratepayers will be watching closely as more details emerge ahead of the 2028 budget year.
