General (O. Reg. 242/08).

The present Regulation enforces the Endangered Species Act, 2007 (S.O. 2007, c. 6). The Regulation sets out 23 different sets of exemptions from the prohibitions listed in the afore-mentioned Act. The exemptions fall into three broad categories: i) exemptions for several major industrial and development sectors; ii) exemptions for a limited number of activities that MNR believes are not harmful to species at risk; and iii) exemptions for emergency response, public safety and law enforcement. In particular, the regulation: i) exempts specific activities on an ongoing basis (e.g., field cultivation of American ginseng; possession or transport of an animal by a veterinarian to provide treatment); ii) provides a limited transition period for other activities before the prohibitions under the Act will apply (e.g., commercial forestry); and, iii) allows for the creation of agreements to further exempt other activities on an indefinite basis (e.g., development and infrastructure). The text consists of 31 sections.