Ontario has signed a partnership with Webequie First Nation to move the Ring of Fire road file faster. The province is putting up to C$39.5 million into community priorities, including an arena-equipped centre, rebuilding a fire-damaged airport terminal, and buying materials and equipment for early road work. The terminal blaze in April caused roughly $500,000 in damage, which is one reason the airport rebuild is on the list.
Doug Ford said road construction could start as early as June 2026, if Ottawa pares back what he calls duplicative federal steps. Canada amended the Impact Assessment Act on June 20, 2024 and says the law remains in force, with federal reviews focused on areas of federal jurisdiction. That means shovels wait on paperwork that Ottawa controls.
Permits Decide Pace
Three linked roads must clear approvals before heavy equipment rolls. Webequie’s 107 kilometre Supply Road, two lanes with 31 water crossings, finished a 60-day public review of its draft environmental assessment in October. Webequie plans to file the final assessment in early January 2026. Seventeen kilometres of the route sit on reserve land, so the First Nation is directly on the hook for design choices and upkeep. Ontario’s environment ministry still has to approve the environmental assessment, and the federal agency can attach binding conditions.
Marten Falls’ Community Access Road, roughly 190 to 230 kilometres long, has its terms of reference approved and released a draft EA for public review in spring 2025. It connects the remote community to the highway grid, the south anchor for any Ring of Fire haul route. Until that review is finalized and approved, the chain to the highway is open only on PowerPoint.
Between them, the Northern Road Link ties Webequie’s road to Marten Falls’ road and the deposit area. Its provincial terms of reference were approved on March 3, 2023, and the federal process is still in planning with tailored guidelines. Translation: route and mitigation are not locked yet.
Ontario’s environment ministry can approve or reject an EA under the Environmental Assessment Act, which decides if a project can proceed provincially. The Impact Assessment Agency of Canada can issue a decision statement with legally enforceable conditions, or stop a project if adverse federal effects are not justified.
Calendar Is Tight
Ottawa is also running a regional assessment for the Ring of Fire area with 15 First Nation partners. It started on January 20, 2025 and is slated to end by July 20, 2028. Regional work does not automatically freeze individual projects, but it shapes cumulative-effects rules and data that future approvals lean on. In short, there is a second clock running, and it is longer than a spring construction season.
Ford wants a duplication cut to hit a June 2026 start. The amended federal law says the project still needs a federal look where Ottawa has jurisdiction. If Webequie files its final EA in January 2026 as planned, the best case is a tight winter of document reviews before any early works. The money is real and near term, the schedule is the unknown
“This Agreement… establishes an important foundation for cooperative planning,” Chief Cornelius Wabasse said, pointing to road work, mental health supports, and an airport rebuild. The line signals more say over route, timing, and mitigation, which cuts risk and cost for the community if the approvals land.
The main takeaway is Ontario and Webequie have funded the on-ramp, not the highway. The next posted dates that move cash and crews are the final Webequie EA in early January 2026 and any federal signoff that follows. Until those are in hand, June is a talking point.
