After 17 years of stagnation, Ontario’s mineral-rich Ring of Fire remains undeveloped, partially due to competing perspectives over the prospect of development in the isolated wetlands. Policy instability and federal-provincial tensions have also interfered with proposed developments. Considering the October 2024 ruling on the Impact Assessment Act’s unconstitutionality, the subsequent amendments and the lack of progress in developing the region, this paper seeks to find a viable path forward.

While limited, there is existing research on practices that assessments for the Ring of Fire should incorporate. To date, no analyses completed after the determination of the Act’s unconstitutionality have been published. This paper focuses primarily on legal and discourse analysis of relevant legislation and other government documents. The analysis also helps in considering the priorities influencing federal, First Nations and Ontario leadership.

The research concludes that many projects either occur on or will likely have significant adverse impacts on First Nations lands. Therefore, the Federal Government can still perform impact assessments and exercise decision-making powers. On the basis that there is federal jurisdiction in the region and regional assessments are necessary for understanding cumulative impacts, revisiting a regional assessment is recommended. However, it is also recommended that the current assessments of proposed roads in the region be allowed to continue without duplicative federal assessments, and that the Government of Ontario amend its Environmental Assessment Act.