Environmental Management/Class EAs

Infrastructure Ontario (IO) is committed to continual improvement in all key environmental aspects of its business. Our commitment is demonstrated through setting environmental goals and reporting performance within an environmental management system (EMS) framework consistent with the International Organizations for Standardization (ISO) 14001 international standard.

IO Property Services implemented EMS for its facility management services, which has been registered to the ISO 14001 standard. The ISO 14001 EMS stan­dard outlines a number of interna­tionally recognized requirements that must be met by an organiza­tion to demonstrate its commit­ment to continuous improvement of its environmental performance. Given the scope and magnitude of IO’s property services portfolio, the ISO 14001 certification is a sig­nificant step forward for proactive management of public sector real estate in Canada. IO Property Services is operated by CBRE and is the first CBRE account to achieve ISO registration, and is also one of the ways CBRE is assisting IO facilities to become a “greener place.” For more information on ISO, please visit their website at http://www.iso.org/iso/home.html.

MEI Class Environmental Assessment (Class EA) 
IO, as an agent acting on behalf of the Ministry of Infrastructure (formerly the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure – MEI), carries out environmental planning under the direction of the Environmental Assessment Act (EAA), administered by the Ministry of the Environment (MOE). The EAA provides for the protection, conservation and wise management of the environment in Ontario by establishing a responsible and transparent process of decision making for projects which may cause negative effects to the environment.

For the majority of projects (or “undertakings” as per EAA), IO follows the MEI Class Environmental Assessment (Class EA) process. A Class EA process permits a group or “class” of projects to proceed using a self-governing environmental planning tool to assess the potential environmental effects of a given project without the need to go through an Individual Environmental Assessment under Part II of the EAA.

Please click here to view MOI Class EA Process document, April 28, 2004 (as amended Sept 11, 2008)  

There are four categories of undertakings under the MEI Class EA:

• Category A projects have low or negligible potential environmental effects. These have been pre-approved by the Minister of the Environment and require no further documentation.
• Category B projects have some potential to cause negative environmental effects and require the preparation of a Consultation and Documentation Report (C&D Report) and must be posted for 30-day public review on the IO website.
• Category C projects have a medium to high potential to cause negative environmental effects and requires formal consultation through Public Information Centres, notification in local newspapers and the preparation of an Environmental Study Report (ESR). The ESR must be posted for 30-day public review on the IO website.
• Category D projects have a high potential to cause negative environmental effects and must follow the Individual Environmental Assessment process under Part II of the EAA, which is beyond the scope of the MEI Class EA.

To view IO projects that have been posted for public review and comment, please click on the link below to search the online database of Category B and C active projects:

Category B and Category C Class EA Database