Environmental Activity and Sector Registry (EASR)

The Environmental Activity and Sector Registry (EASR) is Ontario’s online registry that lets businesses register certain activities that are well managed by meeting a standard set of requirements or established outcomes. The Ministry’s guidance covers activities such as automotive refinishing and commercial printing, so a buyer of an auto body or printing business may meet it in due diligence.

Where the duty comes from

The Environmental Protection Act, section 20.21, says that, subject to the exceptions in that section, no person shall engage in a prescribed activity at a site unless the person has registered it, received a confirmation of registration and engages in it in accordance with the regulations, and the registration is not suspended or removed. O. Reg. 245/11 says a person who engages or proposes to engage in a prescribed activity may register it by filing information using the Ministry’s electronic system, and sets out who must certify the information as complete and accurate. The Ministry says a registrant must update inaccurate information within 30 days of making a change or discovering the inaccuracy. It also says an existing environmental compliance approval, or the part that covers the activity, ceases to be in effect once the activity is registered.

What to check or ask

• Which activities the business has registered and in whose name.
• Whether the Ministry expects a new owner to file or update the registration, and by when.
• Whether the business also holds an environmental compliance approval for anything not registered.

The wider range of permits is covered in licences and permits in an Ontario business sale. The older approval route is explained under environmental compliance approval.