Board-specific processes and requirements
Toronto and Region Conservation Authority - Partnered agency
The board-specific requirements set out below reflect the requirements approved by Council in September 2006.
Agency profile
The mission of the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) is to work with its partners to ensure that The Living CityTM is built upon a natural foundation of healthy rivers and shorelines, greenspace and biodiversity, and sustainable communities.
Its area of jurisdiction is comprised of nine watersheds and includes the region's river valleys, Lake Ontario shoreline, headwater areas of the Oak Ridges Moraine, and the Niagara Escarpment, as the major resources to which its programs are applied. Since its formation in 1957, the Conservation Authority has developed and delivered programs to further the conservation, restoration, development and management of the natural resources within its watersheds.
The TRCA is the largest landowner (15,000 hectares) in the GTA region, and it makes its lands available to the community for outdoor and conservation education, recreation and historic site purposes.
TRCA is governed by the Ontario Conservation Authorities Act and the Ontario Clean Water Act.
Board responsibilities
The Authority is responsible for setting strategic policy and for overseeing the business and affairs of the TRCA. To carry out its responsibilities, the Authority elects an Executive Committee and a Budget/Audit Advisory Board to make recommendations on specific matters.
The Authority has delegated some of the day-to-day management decisions to its Executive Committee, including the administration of TRCA's Fill, Construction and Alteration to Waterways Regulation.
Term of office
Under the Conservation Authorities Act, no member shall be appointed to hold office for more than three years at any one time.
Toronto residents are appointed for two years with a renewal term of two years (without recruitment, with full recruitment every four years).
Composition
The TRCA consists of 28 members:
- 14 representatives of the City of Toronto appointed by City Council of which nine (9) are City Councillors and five (5) are citizen appointees (advertised recruitment); and
- 14 members representing the Regional Municipalities of Peel, Durham and York, and the Township of Adjala-Tosorontio and the Town of Mono
Qualifications
In addition to the general eligibility requirements set out in the Public Appointments Policy, members must demonstrate:
- broad interest in and knowledge of conservation and the management of natural resources
- knowledge of the natural resources of the regions under the jurisdiction of the Authority
- flexibility in daily activities to permit attendance at meetings, tours, special events and other activities relating to the work of the Authority
- ability to actively participate in the decision-making process, and
- interest in and ability to be an advocate of Authority programs, goals, and objectives.
Meetings
The full Authority meets 11 times a year, usually on the fourth Friday of each month. Members also participate in other committees and advisory bodies which may meet 6 to 8 times a year.
Remuneration
$65.00 per diem
Remuneration is set and paid by the Conservation Authority.
Nomination process - advertised recruitment
The 5 citizen members appointed by the City of Toronto are recruited through City-wide media advertising, screened against Council approved qualifications by a City staff team and short-listed, interviewed and nominated by the City's Civic Appointments Committee for appointment by City Council.