Regulation of Development

Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority (ABCA) has a public web mapping site giving users to access to information on properties we own and hazard areas we regulate:

• Please use this link for the mapping portal.

Before undertaking any filling, construction or altering of watercourses, contact Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority staff or your municipality to determine if you are in a 'regulated area'.

If applicable, ABCA staff will guide applicants through a permit process that involves gathering on-site information, survey work, and providing specific conditions to reduce risk to life and property, reduce potential social disruption and protect the environment from naturally occurring flooding and erosion.

Prevention of loss of life and property damage from flooding and erosion, as well as enhancing natural resources, is a key mandate of a Conservation Authority.

Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority reviews development, filling and construction activity within:

• Watercourses
• Environmentally sensitive areas
• Hazard lands
• Flood-prone areas adjacent to creeks, rivers and municipal drains
• Areas of slope instability due to erosion, slumping or shifting of steep bluffs or ravines

Environmental planning includes comments on significant natural areas, flood plain lands, steep slopes, erosion rates, and faulty septic systems (in portions of Middlesex County only), the need for stormwater control, buffer strips, and wildlife corridors linking existing natural areas.

Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority staff provide comments applicants and appropriate agencies for such things as plans of subdivision; severances; official plans; zoning bylaws; municipal drainage reports; and environmental assessments.

• More information on environmental planning and permits

Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority delivers planning and regulations programs as directed through current legislation and regulations.

Ontario Regulation (O. Reg.) 41/24: Prohibited Activities, Exemptions and Permits, under Conservation Authorities Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. C.27, came into effect on April 1, 2024.

For more information please contact Geoff Cade or Daniel King at 519-235-2610 or toll-free 1-888-286-2610 or visit our staff contacts page.