The provincial government intends to allow municipalities and developers to pay a fee in lieu of taking certain actions to protect species at risk.
The Progressive Conservatives are proposing to create the Species at Risk Conservation Trust to oversee these charges and put the money toward large-scale measures to protect and recover those species.
Ontario Environment Minister Rod Phillips says applicants could pay a regulatory charge instead of completing "some of the more onerous and lengthy requirements of a permit."
But he says applicants will still need to take steps to "minimize adverse effects" on endangered species.
