REFERENCE: ERO 025-1098:…

REFERENCE:

ERO 025-1098: Proposed Amendments to the Municipal Act, 2001 to Transfer Jurisdiction over Water and Wastewater to the Lower-tier Municipalities in Peel Region and a Standalone Statute to Authorize the Establishment of Water and Wastewater Public Corporations

Please accept the following as Oxford County’s Submission of Comments in response to the proposed changes posted for public consultation on the Environmental Registry of Ontario (ERO 025-1098).

Background

Oxford County (the County) is a two-tier municipal government located in southwestern Ontario comprised of eight area municipalities: the City of Woodstock, Town of Ingersoll, Town of Tillsonburg and the Townships of Blandford-Blenheim, East Zorra-Tavistock, Zorra, South-West Oxford and Norwich.

The County is the owner and operator of all 17 municipal drinking water systems and 11 municipal wastewater systems which includes, but is not limited to, approximately 750 km of distribution watermains, 32 water treatment plants, 42 water reservoirs/storage towers, 7 water booster stations, 63 active groundwater supply wells, 635 km of sewers and forcemains, 38 sewage pumping stations, 9 wastewater treatment plants, SCADA systems, 4 bulk water stations and a biosolids management facility.

The County holds full municipal authority and is responsible for all water and wastewater system services, including water treatment, wastewater treatment, water distribution and wastewater collection, as per Section 11(11) of the Municipal Act, 2001.

Overview

The County understands that at this time the proposed changes are intended to be limited to affect Peel Region, specifically the area municipalities of City of Brampton, Town of Caledon, and City of Mississauga. However, the County’s Public Works staff have reviewed the proposed changes and assembled the following comments and concerns should this model be expanded and thus impact other Regional Municipalities, including Oxford County. In summary, the County has organized these concerns into three (3) major categories:
1. Implication of transferring water and wastewater services from the regional level to lower tier municipalities.
2. Concerns over the use of a Public Utility Corporation model to provide essential water and wastewater services.
3. The need to provide further clarity on scope and brevity of the proposed authority and oversight granted to the Minister.
The County would also like to take this opportunity to request that the new Legislative Framework for Water and Wastewater Public Corporations Act be posted to Environmental Registries of Ontario for a separate review and comment period.

Comments

Implications of Transferring Service to Lower Tiers

The County has concerns that there could be negative implications to transferring some or all water and wastewater services from a regional system model.

As the upper tier municipality, there would be financial implications to transfer/loss of assets to the area municipalities that must be considered, including:
• Which level must bear the costs of the transition.
• Impact on rates and long-term impacts, asset management planning, capital funding.
• The loss of ability to align cross-departmental projects and initiatives (ex: stormwater, road replacement).
• Loss of regional benefits – these were initially established to promote the sharing of qualified staff and economies of scale. Regional systems also enable flexible, community-focused decision making.
• This transition can be complex in areas where water systems have already been designed or planned to cross municipal boundaries.
There would also be concerns regarding the loss of control and long-term planning of water and wastewater operations, including:
• Undermining long-term planning and investment coordination as regional systems are designed for multi-decade growth, asset renewal, and watershed-based objectives. Shifting governance to smaller jurisdictions or a separate corporation creates shorter-term risks and localized decisions that weaken alignment with regional growth plans.
• There is ambiguity regarding whether all associated water and wastewater services will be transferred such as source water protection and relevant by-law enforcement (sewer use, conservation).
The timeline for transfer in the case of Peel Region has been determined to be 3 years but there is no indication of how this was determined/set or whether or not staff assurances will be in place during that transition period.
• Prolonging the transfer could lead to uncertainty with staff during this time resulting in a loss of top talent and local system knowledge.
• Oxford County water and wastewater operations have a major concern over the rollout and cost of these changes since they operate in all area municipalities.
Finally, the proposed amendment appears to prevent the transfer of services back to regional systems and seems irreversible, which raises concerns over what happens if the new arrangement is unsuccessful.

Clarity on Minister Oversight and Authority

The County would like to take the opportunity to recommend that a decision-making framework be established for when a similar transition may be asked of and applied to other municipalities.
These changes name Peel Region, “as the first”, yet permit the Minister to impose this change on other municipalities in the future. The County would like there to be greater clarity on the following:

• What considerations the Minister must weigh prior to deciding if, when, how, or under what circumstances they impose such a structure on other municipalities.
• If there is a process for Municipalities to apply for an appeal or mediation should either the upper and lower-tier municipalities disagree with the Minister’s decision or at any point during the transfer process.
• The Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing would hold powers over rate plans and potentially other financial matters.
o This raises concerns for how rates are regulated, capped, or utilized (for instance regarding cost sharing in other municipal programs) and development charges.
o Asset Management Plans and the Linear Replacement Program have not been discussed in terms of the responsibility of the new Public Utility Corporation.
• It is unclear when and how the Minister may intervene, or whether they could overrule the public corporation’s recommendations once enacted.
• There is no mention of a hearing or dispute process if Municipalities believe the public corporation is not meeting residents’ needs.
• Will this prohibit the future transfer of public services to a private for-profit entity?
Public Corporation Concerns (Compared to Municipal Services)

Proposed amendments to the Municipal Act, 2001 include the transfer of jurisdiction over water and wastewater to the lower-tier municipalities in Peel Region and a standalone statute to authorize the establishment of water and wastewater public corporations. The government is seeking public feedback on proposed legislative and regulatory changes under the Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act, 2025 to streamline the construction of new homes and infrastructure.

The change includes the transfer of jurisdiction over Water and Wastewater from Peel Region as upper tier to the lower tier area municipalities (City of Brampton, Town of Caledon, and City of Mississauga) then further allows the Minister to enact a Public Corporation that will oversee that subsequent service delivery. There is a further proposed amendment to prevent transfer back from the lower tier municipalities.

The Walkerton Inquiry reviewed the role of Public Utilities Commissions (PUCs) in delivering drinking water services. Following the Inquiry, many of Ontario’s drinking water PUCs were dismantled. While significant legislative improvements have been made to protect drinking water since then, some concerns raised during the Inquiry remain relevant today.
Using public corporations for water services can introduce challenges such as inconsistent design and operational standards across municipalities and reduced accountability to residents for decisions affecting this essential service. Key areas of concern include:

• Loss of transparency to the public as this change can be imposed without the need for a public review or consultation. Further, the methods for setting water and wastewater rates under this model have not been defined and it is unclear if they will incorporate profit margins or be transparent to the public.
 Loss of local control as the ability for the Minister to designate a Public Corporation without consultation effectively sets a precedent for future provincial intervention in municipal service delivery. Council or municipalities may lose a level of involvement as the Public Corporation will work under the approval of their Board of Directors:
o Councils may lose direct involvement and approval authority over the board’s decisions.
o Application of privacy laws which help foster transparency is unclear and could reduce public access to information.
o There is potential loss of direct accountability to residents as the board may establish their own performance goals and targets which could include margins for profit.
o It is unclear how the corporation model aligns with Development Charges (DCs) and Municipal Class Environmental Assessments (EAs).

• Financial Expenses to settle the transfer of water and wastewater services: it would need to be clear how the responsibilities for transition costs, potential impacts on water rates, and long-term implications for capital investment would be managed. Public Corporations operating on behalf of area municipalities would also limit local control over rates and operations as public corporations may adopt profit-driven objectives, introducing financial performance metrics, whereas municipalities prioritize service levels for residents.
Conclusion

Implementation of these changes more broadly in the province is not in the rate payers’ best interests and can lead to unintended consequences as there would be financial implications of a transfer of assets to the area municipalities, including who bears the costs of the transition, impact on rates and long-term impacts on capital funding.

We appreciate the opportunity to comment on the proposed legislative framework and look forward to further opportunities to participate in stakeholder consultation regarding this matter.

Yours truly,

Don Ford, BA, CMM III, C.Tech
Senior Manager, Water and Wastewater Services
Oxford County Public Works