001-45_EJQR10_FALL26_PT - Flipbook - Page 5
material to land昀椀ll. Ontario began developing a dedicated excess soils
framework.
depots and salt-impacted soil. By 2025, there was a greater emphasis on
diversion and specialized management.
By 2019, Ontario introduced O. Reg. 406/19 — On-Site and Excess Soil
Management and established the principle that excess soil could be a
resource rather than automatically being considered waste. It introduced
rules for determining when soil could be bene昀椀cially reused, risk-based
quality standards, planning requirements and a system for tracking soil
movements.
Recent amendments have further expanded the framework, including
rules around aggregate-reuse depots, infrastructure projects, asphaltimpacted soil and liquid excess soil. The current consolidated regulation
also explicitly restricts certain clean excess soil from being deposited in
land昀椀lls.
A few years later, in 2021, the system became operational. From January
1, 2021, reuse rules and risk-based standards began taking e昀昀ect. Testing,
tracking and registration requirements were subsequently phased
in, with the main requirements taking e昀昀ect January 1, 2023 after a
temporary implementation pause in 2022.
The rules were re昀椀ned in 2022–2024, as Ontario adjusted the framework
around soil depots, project areas, and other practical issues. The 2024
amendments, for example, revised the de昀椀nition of Class 2 soilmanagement sites and introduced provisions for landscaping soil
Ontario’s construction sites now generate an estimated 25 million cubic
metres of excess soil annually—we're quite literally moving mountains..
As we look to 2027, we can expect the next major milestone, with the
restriction on land昀椀lling certain reusable excess soils until January 1,
2027. The intent is to push suitable material toward bene昀椀cial reuse
rather than disposal.
The regulations are in place and the principles are sound, though the
reality is much messier. For generations, we’ve treated soil as if it were an
inexhaustible bank account. But the bill is coming due.
E N V I RON M E N T J OURN A L QUA RT E RLY RE PORT • FA L L 2 02 6 • P AGE 5
