Yes, they have been patched a few times with the local OPP ops channels recently, plus they are doing joint operations. Last week they did a big joint op on hwy 65 at the Quebec border involving MNR, OPP, and QPP.
North Bay comm centre has also recently extended TG 3040 (3NBAYENF) to affiliate with South River (a zone 2 tower).
As I write this they are now on a tac (3NRT01) getting ready to bust some people for hunting from a moving vehicle.
Their highest level of activity around here is now for hunting, and again in May when pickerel season opens, other than that, their comms traffic is pretty light.
I have never heard any encryption on the MNR tg's but to be honest I wouldn't know if I did unless I was holding on a specific tg, as my 396xt scans right past anything encrypted. If I was holding on the tg it would squawk briefly and then flash "ENC" but if it is scanning, it shows on the screen for not even a split second, nothing verbal, and then carries on. I don't think freescan even logs it.