The Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority (NVCA) board of directors unanimously passed the 2026 budget and business plan, the first time since 2021.

NVCA’s 2026 budget reflects an increase of $180,372.37, which includes a $101,307.36 increase in municipal levy shared proportionality across 18 member municipalities.

“I want to thank our board of directors and councils of all 18 municipalities for their clear direction and support for this budget and business plan,” said Jennifer Vincent, CAO of NVCA. “At $7.8 million, this budget reflects fiscal prudence – reducing discretionary charges by 31 per cent and holding most lines flat while advancing efficiency and service modernization. This positions NVCA to deliver services that are responsive to the environmental, economic, and social sustainability of the Nottawasaga Watershed.

Budgets for conservation authorities are categorized into three categories:

Category 1 – mandatory municipal levy that goes towards reviewing development plans to avoid natural hazards. This funding also supports passive recreation and environmental restoration on NVCA lands.

Category 2 – services delivered at the request of a municipality, with funding under agreement with the benefiting municipality.

Category 3 – discretionary programs that go beyond mandatory and municipally requested services and include initiatives such as tree planting, environmental restoration, events and environmental education.

“We were able to gain support for all three budget categories from all member municipalities by being responsive to community needs,” said NVCA chair Jonathan Scott. “This budget is lean and efficient. We did that by reviewing the budget line-by-line and significantly reducing Category 3 costs. We’ve reduced our operating budget by $9,000 and held our levy to 2.8 per cent, driven by the decrease in planning and permitting revenue with the decline in construction across the province.”