In reply to the Ontario Auditor General's 2023 report on management of aggregate resources, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources retained WSP, to update the Aggregate Supply and Demand Study for the Greater Golden Horseshoe (GGH), last done in 2009 and 2016.

The Executive Summary of the report can be found here. The file for the full report is too large to post. Please email us at [email protected] if you would like the full report.

Our partners at Reform Gravel Mining Coalition have reviewed the full report and prepared a Fact Sheet.

Here are the key takeaways:

• The province estimates there are 6.2 billion tonnes of aggregate reserves in the Greater Golden Horseshoe. These do not include aggregate supply in the rest of the province, including eastern and southwestern Ontario, as well as over 2,000 permits on Crown land.
• Current aggregate reserves will last for 38 years at the current average annual consumption rate, without the need to add new pits or quarries or expand existing ones.
  
  
• Ontario licenses the extraction of thirteen times more aggregate than it consumes each year on average.
  
  
• The aggregate industry's claim that there is a shortage of high-quality aggregate close to market is unsubstantiated.
  
  
• The province failed to meet the Auditor General's recommendation to provide accurate and verifiable data on supply and demand.
  
  
• Ontario's management of aggregate resources ignores and exacerbates climate change.

As part of the Reform Gravel Mining Coalition, we continue to call on the Ontario government to safeguard lives and the environment by introducing an immediate moratorium on new aggregate approvals. Let's get to the bottom of the whole Supply and Demand question.