| Agency Name: | Ministry of Natural Resources |
| Type: | Ministry |
| Picture Width: | frameless |
| Picture Caption: | The ministry's headquarters at Robinson Place in Peterborough |
| Formed: | 1972 |
| Jurisdiction: | Government of Ontario |
| Headquarters: | Peterborough, Ontario |
| Minister1 Name: | Graydon Smith |
| Minister1 Pfo: | Minister of Natural Resources |
| Minister2 Name: | Nolan Quinn |
| Minister2 Pfo: | Associate Minister of Forestry |
The Natural Resources is a government ministry of the Canadian province of Ontario that is responsible for Ontario's provincial parks, forests, fisheries, wildlife, mineral aggregates and the Crown lands and waters that make up 87 per cent of the province. Its offices are divided into Northwestern, Northeastern and Southern Ontario regions with the main headquarters in Peterborough, Ontario.[1] The current minister is Graydon Smith].
In 2021, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry again merged with the Ministry of Energy, Northern Development and Mines to form the Ministry of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry, while the Ministry of Energy became a separate ministry. Following the 2022 Ontario general election, the Ministry of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry was split up into three separate ministries. In June, 2024, the Minister of Natural Resources no longer had responsibility for forestry, which was now the responsibility of an Associate Minister of Forestry under the Minister of Natural Resources. The Minister of Mines and Minister of Northern Development remained separate ministries.[2] [3]
The Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry was Graydon Smith from the 2022 election until June 2024, when he was appointed the Minister of Natural Resources and Nolan Quinn became the Associate Minister of Forestry under the Ministry of Natural Resources.[3] Since the 2022 election, the Minister of Mines is George Pirie, and the Minister of Northern Development is Greg Rickford, the previous minister for the combined of NDMNR&F.<ref>Web site: Ministries . 2021-06-20. www.ontario.ca.
The first government office charge with responsibility of crown land management in modern-day Ontario was the Office of the Surveyor-General of the Northern District of North America, created in 1763[4] and initially headed by Samuel Holland. Holland was initially appointed Surveyor General of Quebec, but offered to assume the larger responsibility at no increase in salary.[5] In 1791, Upper and Lower Canada were created via the Constitutional Act 1791. Holland continued to serve as Surveyor General for both, but openly advocated that they should be separate posts.
In 1792, David William Smith was named by Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe to be acting Surveyor General of Upper Canada (against Holland's advice to appoint William Chewett as his replacement), Smith and was subsequently officially appointed to the position in 1798 and held the office until his resignation in 1804. The previously overlooked Chewett and Thomas Ridout were appointed to the position jointly in the interim. In 1805, Charles Burton Wyatt was appointed (along with Joseph Bouchette[6]) but was suspended in 1807. Ridout was named to the office in 1807 and held the position until 1829.
The Office of the Commissioner of Crown Lands for Upper Canada was established in 1827.[7] By the 1840s, however, the crown lands department had been established over which the Commissioner presided, and by 1860, this was renamed the Department of Crown Lands. The primary responsibility of the department was the sale and management of public lands and the granting of land to settlers. Between 1827 and 1867, the responsibilities of the department expanded to include the duties of the Surveyor General (in 1845), as well as those of the Surveyor General of Woods and Forests (in 1852). By 1867, the department had responsibility over mines, fisheries, ordnance lands, colonization roads, and Indian affairs, as well.[8]
In 1867, the Department of Crown Lands for the Province of Canada was replaced with the Department of Crown Lands for Ontario. Ordnance lands, Indian affairs and fisheries were, however, transferred to the federal government in 1867. In 1900, the department also acquired responsibility over immigration and colonization.[9]
In 1905, legislation was passed which renamed the Commissioner of Crown Lands to the Minister of Lands and Mines. With this change, the department was renamed the Department of Lands and Mines. At this time, responsibilities for forestry were transferred to the Department of Agriculture.[10] In 1906, the department was renamed the Department of Lands, Forests and Mines, resuming responsibilities for forestry.[11] It also resumed responsibilities for immigration and colonization between 1916 and 1920.[12]
In 1920, the department was renamed Department of Lands and Forests when a separate Department of Mines was established.[13] Responsibilities for immigration and colonization were also transferred back to the Department of Agriculture.
The department existed until 1972, when it amalgamated with the Department of Mines and Northern Affairs to form the Ministry of Natural Resources.[14] The ministry was responsible for northern affairs until 1977, and for mines until 1985.[15] It was again merged briefly between 1995 and 1997 with Northern Development and Mines to form a single Ministry of Natural Resources, Northern Development and Mines. In 2014 the ministry was renamed the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, but responsibilities did not change.[16]
In June 2021, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry once again merged with the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines to form the Ministry of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry.
After the 2022 Ontario General Election in which the incumbent Progressive Conservatives were re-elected, the Ministry was once again separated, this time into 3 independent ministries; the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, the Ministry of Northern Development and the Ministry of Mines.[17]
On June 6, 2024, it was announced that the Minister of Natural Resources longer had responsibility for forestry.[2] An Associate Minister of Forestry was appointed as part of the Ministry of Natural Resources.[3]
| Name | Term of office | Name | Term of office | Political party (Ministry) | Note | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commissioner of Crown Lands | |||||||||||||||
| Stephen Richards | Liberal Conservative (MacDonald) | ||||||||||||||
| Matthew Crooks Cameron | |||||||||||||||
| Richard William Scott | Liberal (Blake) | ||||||||||||||
| Liberal (Mowat) | |||||||||||||||
| Timothy Blair Pardee | Resigned due to poor health, subsequently died on July 21, 1889. | ||||||||||||||
| Arthur Sturgis Hardy | |||||||||||||||
| John Morison Gibson | Liberal (Hardy) | ||||||||||||||
| Elihu Davis | Liberal (Ross) | ||||||||||||||
| Alexander Grant MacKay | |||||||||||||||
| James Joseph Foy | Conservative (Whitney) | ||||||||||||||
| Minister of Lands and Mines | |||||||||||||||
| Francis Cochrane | |||||||||||||||
| Minister of Lands, Forests and Mines | |||||||||||||||
| Francis Cochrane | |||||||||||||||
| William Howard Hearst | |||||||||||||||
| Conservative (Hearst) | While Premier | ||||||||||||||
| Howard Ferguson | |||||||||||||||
| Minister of Lands and Forests | Minister of Mines | United Farmers (Drury) | |||||||||||||
| Beniah Bowman | Harry Mills | ||||||||||||||
| James W. Lyons | Charles McCrea | Conservative (Ferguson) | |||||||||||||
| Howard Ferguson | |||||||||||||||
| William Finlayson | |||||||||||||||
| Conservative (Henry) | |||||||||||||||
| Peter Heenan | Paul Leduc | Liberal (Hepburn) | |||||||||||||
| Robert Laurier | |||||||||||||||
| Norman Otto Hipel | Hipel was concurrently Provincial Secretary and Registrar (October 27, 1942 – May 18, 1943) | ||||||||||||||
| Liberal (Conant) | |||||||||||||||
| Liberal (Nixon) | |||||||||||||||
| Wesley Gardiner Thompson | Leslie Frost | PC (Drew) | |||||||||||||
| Harold Robinson Scott | |||||||||||||||
| PC (Kennedy) | |||||||||||||||
| Welland Gemmell | PC (Frost) | ||||||||||||||
| Welland Gemmell | Philip Kelly | Gemmell died in office | |||||||||||||
| Clare Mapledoram | |||||||||||||||
| Wilf Spooner | July 18, 1957 | December 22, 1958 | |||||||||||||
| Wilf Spooner | James Anthony Maloney | December 22, 1958 | October 1, 1961 | ||||||||||||
| George Wardrope | November 8, 1961 | November 23, 1967 | PC (Robarts) | ||||||||||||
| Kelso Roberts | |||||||||||||||
| René Brunelle | |||||||||||||||
| René Brunelle | November 23, 1967 | February 13, 1968 | |||||||||||||
| Allan Lawrence | |||||||||||||||
| Minister of Mines and Northern Affairs | |||||||||||||||
| Allan Lawrence | |||||||||||||||
| Leo Bernier | PC (Davis) | ||||||||||||||
| Leo Bernier | |||||||||||||||
| Minister of Natural Resources | |||||||||||||||
| Leo Bernier | |||||||||||||||
| Minister of Natural Resources | Minister of Northern Affairs | ||||||||||||||
| Frank Miller | Leo Bernier | ||||||||||||||
| James Auld | Auld was concurrently Minister of Energy | ||||||||||||||
| Alan Pope | |||||||||||||||
| Mike Harris | PC (Miller) | Harris was concurrently Minister of Energy from May 17, 1985, onward | |||||||||||||
| Vince Kerrio | René Fontaine | Liberal (Peterson) | Kerrio was concurrently Minister of Energy until September 29, 1987 Peterson was minister while Premier Conway was concurrently Government House Leader René Fontaine held the separate title of Minister of Northern Development from September 29, 1987, onward McLeod was concurrently Minister of Energy | ||||||||||||
| David Peterson | |||||||||||||||
| Sean Conway | |||||||||||||||
| Lyn McLeod | Hugh O'Neil | ||||||||||||||
| Bud Wildman | Gilles Pouliot | NDP (Rae) | Wildman was concurrently Minister Responsible for Native Affairs Shelley Martel held the separate title of Minister of Northern Development from October 1, 1990, to July 31, 1991 | ||||||||||||
| Shelley Martel | |||||||||||||||
| Howard Hampton | Hampton was concurrently Minister Responsible for Native Affairs | ||||||||||||||
| Gilles Pouliot | |||||||||||||||
| Minister of Natural Resources, Northern Development and Mines | PC (Harris) | ||||||||||||||
| Chris Hodgson | |||||||||||||||
| Minister of Natural Resources | Ministry of Northern Development and Mines | ||||||||||||||
| John Snobelen | Chris Hodgson | ||||||||||||||
| Tim Hudak | |||||||||||||||
| Dan Newman | |||||||||||||||
| Jerry Ouellette | Jim Wilson | PC (Eves) | |||||||||||||
| David Ramsay | Rick Bartolucci | Liberal (McGuinty) | Concurrently Minister Responsible for Aboriginal Affairs (June 29, 2005 – June 21, 2007), Minister of Aboriginal Affairs (June 21, 2007 – October 30, 2007) | ||||||||||||
| Donna Cansfield | Michael Gravelle | Gravelle was styled as Ministry of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry between June 24, 2009, and October 20, 2011 | |||||||||||||
| Linda Jeffrey | |||||||||||||||
| Michael Gravelle | Rick Bartolucci | Bartolucci was concurrently Chair of Cabinet | |||||||||||||
| David Orazietti | Michael Gravelle | Liberal (Wynne) | |||||||||||||
| Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry | |||||||||||||||
| Bill Mauro | |||||||||||||||
| Kathryn McGarry | |||||||||||||||
| Nathalie Des Rosiers | |||||||||||||||
| Jeff Yurek | Greg Rickford | PC (Ford) | Rickford was styled Minister of Energy, Northern Development and Mines and was concurrently Minister of Indigenous Affairs | ||||||||||||
| John Yakabuski | |||||||||||||||
| Minister of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry | |||||||||||||||
| Greg Rickford | Concurrently Minister of Indigenous Affairs | Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry | |||||||||||||
| Graydon Smith | |||||||||||||||
| Minister of Natural Resources | |||||||||||||||
| Graydon Smith | incumbent | ||||||||||||||
MNRF is organized into divisions; within each division are branches/regions, sections, and units.[18]
The Ministry is responsible for:
The ministry also has responsibility for the Office of the Mining & Lands Commissioner and the Niagara Escarpment Commission agencies.[20] [21]
Ontario Parks protects significant natural and cultural resources in a system of parks and protected areas.
The Ministry's Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services (AFFES) program coordinates forest fire detection, monitoring, suppression and public information and education services for Ontario. AFFES also provides aviation services for the Ontario government and leads emergency management planning and response for natural hazards such as forest fires, floods, erosion, dam failures, unstable soils and bedrock, droughts and oil and gas emergencies.[22]
The Ministry's entrance into the field of aviation started with hiring Laurentide Air Services to carry out fire patrols however the government soon realized it could save money by carrying out the operations itself and formed the Ontario Provincial Air Service, (O.P.A.S.) in February 1924 with 13 second hand Curtiss HS-2L flying boats that had been originally built for the US Navy. The OPAS was an early pioneer in the use of aircraft for the discovery and extinguishing of forest fires. Initially this involved carrying warnings of fires back to existing fire patrols, to be extinguished by teams that travelled by canoe or overland but soon they began landing firefighters (never more than a few at a time due to the limited carrying capacity of the aircraft available) with a hand-operated water pump near a fire. As a part of this program the OPAS completely rebuilt damaged aircraft before they began building a number of aircraft under license to meet their requirements such as the Buhl Air Sedan, and later provided considerable input on the development of the de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver and de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter and finally were central to the invention of the water bomber. The first water bomber was an OPAS DHC Beaver with a tank mounted on the float designed to dump the water out quickly. This had followed unsuccessful experiments with bags of water.[23]