The Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC) will be hosting an information session regarding the Ontario Pumped Storage Project proposed to be built on the grounds of the 4th Canadian Division Training Centre in Meaford. The meeting has been scheduled for Thursday, February 12, from 5 – 7 p.m. at Meaford Hall.
“The Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC) will be hosting a hybrid public information session regarding the project, the federal impact assessment and regulatory processes and how to participate in the upcoming public comment period. The session will include presentations by IAAC, as well as Environment and Climate Change Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, and the Department of National Defence,” informed the IAAC in a notice issued on February 4.
Proponent TC Energy has said the proposal is a green initiative that would consume inexpensive off-peak power at night to pump water from Georgian Bay into a 374-acre storage reservoir located 150 metres above the Georgian Bay shoreline on the military base. The reservoir, which would hold 20 million cubic metres of water, would be emptied back into Georgian Bay during peak usage periods, driving hydraulic turbines to generate electricity.
Since the proposed facility first became public knowledge in 2019, many residents have expressed concerns about the proposal, ranging from fears that the facility would have negative impacts on the environment, including negatively impacting fish in the bay, to concerns that homeowners in close proximity to the site could be in danger of flooding should the reservoir fail. Concern has also been growing about the potential for contaminated soil on the military base creating issues once disturbed when the reservoir is dug. Many have also expressed concern about the cost of the multi-billion dollar proposal, and whether pumped storage should be favoured over battery storage.
Local advocacy group Save Georgian Bay has been raising awareness of the project locally and beyond for the past several years. On Sunday the organization issued a media release in which they expressed frustration about the short notice for the meeting.
“Many members are concerned they were given such unusually short notice about the pivotal public information session for such a massive project. The IAAC meeting, scheduled for 5 p.m. on February 12 in Meaford Hall, is the first sign the project has moved to the federal level for evaluation. But after both the federal and provincial government passed bills to fast-track major projects, it may turn out to be the only real environmental assessment of the proposal’s impact on Georgian Bay, the drinking water of municipalities around the bay and the public health and safety of an estimated 1,000 residents whose homes and farms lie directly downhill from the proposed 375-acre man-made reservoir,” said Save Georgian Bay in their media release.
Save Georgian Bay director Tom Buck said that the short notice has made himself and others feel ‘left out in the cold’.
“This is very short notice—barely a week,” said Save Georgian Bay director Tom Buck. “The lives of people all around Georgian Bay are going to be affected by this environmentally-invasive project and it feels as if we’re being left out in the cold.”
While Meaford’s council approved a motion in February 2023 expressing conditional support for the proposal, members of council also have their own concerns about the proposed project and the potential impacts it could have on the community, from environmental to economic, should it move forward.
In November of last year, council approved baseline water testing of properties in close proximity to the 4th Canadian Division Training Centre land where TC Energy proposes to develop a hydro-electric pumped storage facility.
The motion, brought forward on November 10, 2025 by the Deputy Mayor, directs municipal staff to engage a consulting firm to undertake “baseline water sampling and testing for carcinogens, heavy metals and toxins, including but not limited to: PFAS, dioxins, furan, etc. as recommended in the PSAC motion, from specific locations in proximity to the proposed site of the OPS project no later than Q2 of 2026.”
The IAAC information session will also be available via Zoom. If you are interested in attending virtually, use the following link to register:
https://iaac-aeic.survey-sondage.ca/f/LanguageSelection.aspx?s=36be8cf9-81c7-4753-af42-6e3c79ccf9e0
