Item List

In Adjala-Tosorontio, the Oak Ridges Moraine is largely composed of rural countryside with rolling uplands, woodlots, wetlands, and headwater-feeding tributaries that support the Moraine’s groundwater recharge and downstream water quality. Key pressures tend to come through lot creation/severances, rural estate patterns, and incremental site alteration that can cumulatively affect recharge, small streams, and natural heritage connectivity

On the eastern Moraine, ORM lands are generally rural and tied to headwater functions that feed downstream systems. Planning risks often show up as incremental development/consents, drainage works, and earthworks that can quietly change runoff, wetland function, and habitat patches over time.

Aurora sits at a high-pressure Moraine edge where small changes can have outsized cumulative effects: stormwater, grading, and servicing decisions matter because the Moraine functions as a recharge and headwater landscape. Common threats include boundary/interface pressure, redevelopment/intensification spillover, and “piecemeal” approvals that nibble away at linkage and water-related functions.

Caledon includes the western Moraine near its connection toward the Niagara Escarpment, with prominent moraine hills, forests, and recharge areas. Key pressures typically include aggregate interest and major rural/estate development proposals, plus transportation/infrastructure corridors that can fragment habitat and disrupt water balance.

n the eastern Moraine, ORM lands are characterized by rural headwater landscapes where recharge, wetlands, and forest cover play an important role in water quality and flow stability. Risks often come from dispersed rural development, road upgrades, and site alteration that gradually increases imperviousness and alters drainage.

Clarington includes fast-growing settlement contexts adjacent to Moraine lands, where protecting recharge and headwater features depends heavily on strong stormwater/water balance and natural heritage implementation. Main pressures include settlement expansion, servicing extensions, and large transportation projects—especially where growth edges meet Moraine systems.

At the eastern end of the Moraine, ORM areas are typically rural and functionally important for headwaters and connected natural heritage patches. The biggest threats are often cumulative: severances, small rezonings, fill/site alteration, and drainage changes that add up across a watershed.

East Gwillimbury includes central-north Moraine landscapes where forests, wetlands, and recharge areas support tributaries and regional groundwater flow. Planning pressures commonly include growth management at settlement edges, road widening/corridors, and incremental fragmentation of linkage areas.

Hamilton has a smaller share of ORM lands compared to the core Moraine municipalities, but even small edge areas can be important for connectivity and hydrologic function. Key risks are typically infrastructure and development-interface decisions that increase fragmentation and create downstream impacts beyond the immediate footprint.

Kawartha Lakes contains northeastern Moraine lands where the Moraine’s headwater role is especially visible in the number of streams and tributaries originating or being sustained by recharge. Threats often include rural development patterns, shoreline/watershed pressures, and cumulative land disturbance that can affect water quality and baseflows.

King is one of the most “Moraine-central” municipalities, with extensive ORMCP designations shaping what is permitted across countryside, linkage, and core areas. Planning pressures are frequent and varied: settlement-edge growth, major institutions/recreation proposals, and rural estate demand—often with water balance and natural heritage connectivity as the hardest constraints to maintain.

Markham’s ORM lands are largely at the urban edge, where the Moraine’s recharge/headwater function must be protected through careful stormwater, grading, and infrastructure decisions. Common threats include cumulative impacts from urban interface development and transportation/servicing works that narrow linkage and increase runoff.

Mono is part of the western Moraine landscape, near the Moraine’s western extent toward the Escarpment, with classic moraine topography—rolling uplands, forests, wetlands, and recharge features. Pressures often include rural estate development, aggregate interest, and road upgrades that can fragment natural systems and change infiltration patterns.

New Tecumseth includes northwestern Moraine areas where rural countryside and linkage functions can be gradually stressed by settlement growth and severances. Key threats tend to be incremental fragmentation, private servicing pressure, and cumulative hydrologic change from dispersed development.

Newmarket is another Moraine-edge municipality where the key issue is the interface: small land use changes and stormwater/servicing decisions can cumulatively affect nearby Moraine features and corridors. Threats often show up as “edge creep,” loss of linkage functionality, and incremental impacts to water balance.

The Moraine is notably narrow in the Oshawa area (a known connectivity pinch point), which means maintaining linkage and hydrologic function requires extra care. Pressures typically include corridor infrastructure, growth spillover, and cumulative effects from development-interface grading and drainage changes.

Pickering includes Moraine-edge landscapes where water balance, stormwater controls, and protection of linked natural areas are central to preventing incremental decline. Risks include large growth-related infrastructure, servicing, and the steady accumulation of smaller approvals that increase imperviousness and fragment corridors.

Port Hope sits toward the eastern Moraine, where rural headwaters and connected natural cover support downstream aquatic systems. Common threats include dispersed rural development, site alteration/fill, and road/drainage changes that can degrade headwater function if not managed conservatively.

Richmond Hill contains one of the Moraine’s most sensitive connectivity pinch points at the Yonge Street corridor area, where remaining linkage width is limited. Threats are primarily urban-edge pressures: redevelopment/intensification, transportation works, and cumulative impacts that further squeeze linkage and stress water-related features.

Scugog includes central-north Moraine lands where recharge, wetlands, and headwater drainage play a big role in sustaining baseflows and water quality. Pressures often come from severances, shoreline/watershed issues, and incremental earthworks that change infiltration and runoff patterns over time.

Trent Hills is near the eastern extent of the Moraine (toward the Castleton end), where protecting headwater landscapes and rural natural heritage remains a core function. Threats tend to be cumulative: smaller development files, roads/culverts, drainage works, and site alteration that gradually alter hydrology and fragment habitat.

Uxbridge is widely viewed as “Moraine core country,” with extensive Moraine landscapes—woodlands, wetlands, rolling uplands, and recharge areas—supporting many headwaters and coldwater systems. The main pressures are rural estate demand, earthworks/site alteration and fill, and cumulative hydrologic impacts from dispersed development and infrastructure.

Vaughan is a major urban-edge municipality on the Moraine, where high growth pressure makes conformity with Moraine protections especially consequential at the interface. Risks often include servicing and transportation corridors, large-scale land use changes, and cumulative impacts that reduce natural linkage effectiveness and increase runoff.

Whitby includes southern/eastern Moraine edge areas where downstream water quality and headwater-connected systems depend on strong stormwater and watershed-sensitive planning. Key threats include growth-related infrastructure expansion and cumulative imperviousness from development patterns at the Moraine boundary.

A large Moraine municipality spanning multiple ORMCP designations (core/linkage/countryside patterns), with extensive natural heritage and recharge landscapes. Pressures include settlement-edge expansion, corridor infrastructure, and cumulative impacts to recharge and connectivity—especially where growth fronts meet linkage areas.