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Great Lakes

Canada-Ontario Agreement Respecting the Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem (COA)

The governments of Canada and Ontario further demonstrated their commitment to cleaning up and restoring the Great Lakes by signing the 2002 Canada-Ontario Agreement Respecting the Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem (COA) today.

The Agreement builds on actions taken throughout the 30-year history of collaboration between the governments of Canada and Ontario outlined in previous Agreements, and targets new priority actions. The COA outlines how the two governments will continue to work together to focus efforts to help clean up the Great Lakes Basin ecosystem.

In April 2002, the province announced it is investing $50 million over five years to clean up the Great Lakes and protect the province's unique coastal environment.

The $50 million will be directed towards priority projects to:

• support the clean up of contaminated sediment in Ontario's Great Lakes Areas of Concern;
• increase the monitoring and reporting of water and sediment quality, as well as the health of fish and wildlife in and around the Great Lakes;
• reduce the amount of harmful pollutants, such as mercury, that find their way into the Great Lakes;
• integrate information from both governments and stakeholders to ensure better decisions are made and appropriate actions taken; and
• make progress on habitat rehabilitation, conservation and protection.

Media

• McGuinty Government Taking Strong Action to Help Protect and Clean Up the Great Lakes (April 21, 2004) [HTML]
• Media Backgrounder: Ontario Invests in Protection and Conservation Under the Canada-Ontario Agreement on the Great Lakes (April 21, 2004) [HTML]
• Media Backgrounder: Ontario Ministry of the Environment’s Great Lakes Guardian Water Monitoring Vessel (April 21, 2004) [HTML]
• Media Backgrounder: Canadian Great Lakes Areas of Concern (April 21, 2004) [HTML]
• Canada-Ontario Agreement and Annexes (June 12, 2002) [PDF]

Great Lakes Portraits

To further inform Canadians on the work being done on the Great Lakes, the governments of Canada and Ontario in September 2001, released a number of Great Lakes Portraits which illustrate some of the successes over the previous six years, and some of the future challenges facing the Great Lakes Basin ecosystem.

• Nature Needs a Few Good Friends (Bringing Back the Don River)
• Getting the Job Done One Step at a Time (Mercury in the Environment)
• Farmers Target Non-Source Pollution (Agriculture in the Great Lakes Basin)
• Ten Years of Hard Work Pays Off (Severn Sound Remedial Action Plan)
• There's Something in the Air (Atmospheric Deposition in the Great Lakes)
• A Lake in Flux (Lake Erie)
• Invaders Pose Major Threat to Lakes (Aquatic Non-Native Invasive Species)
• Something Old, Something New (Municipal Wastewater Treatment)
• Reclaiming a Neglected Resource (Restoring and Preserving Great Lakes Wetlands)

Resources

• Great Lakes programs – Publications Catalogue
• Inland Lakes and Rivers programs – Publications Catalogue
• 2005 - 2006 Guide To Eating Ontario Sport Fish

If you are having difficulty accessing a document, please contact the Ministry of the Environment at picemail@ene.gov.on.ca or phone the ministry's Public Information Centre at 1- 800-565-4923, in Toronto 416-325-4000 or by mail to the Ministry of the Environment, Public Information Centre, 135 St. Clair Ave. West, 1st Floor, Toronto, ON. M4V 1P5.

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