Proposed amendments to the Water and Wastewater Public Corporations Act, 2025 and consequential amendment to the Safe Drinking Water Act, 2002

The government is seeking public feedback on proposed legislative changes under the proposed Building Homes and Improving Transportation Infrastructure Act, 2026 and related regulatory changes to further support housing, economic, and infrastructure development, and advance key transportation and transit priorities.

This proposal addresses government commitments made in Spring 2024 as part of the work undertaken by the Peel Region Transition Board, and in Spring 2025, as part of announcements related to the Protect Ontario by Building Faster and Smarter Act, 2025. It also builds upon the Water and Wastewater Public Corporation framework developed under the Water and Wastewater Public Corporations Act, 2025.

Current Proposal: 

Legislative Amendments to Water and Wastewater Public Corporations Act, 2025 

As part of the MMAH Spring Bill, MMAH is proposing legislative amendments to the Water and Wastewater Public Corporations Act, 2025 (WWPCA).

These include:

• Explicitly prohibiting private ownership in any new water and wastewater public corporation to maintain 100% public sector ownership.
• Supporting the continuation of existing contracts so that existing contracts are not affected by a transfer to a new water and wastewater public corporation. This includes contracts such as employment or insurance, or a collective agreement.
• Clarifying that certain rights (such as successor, employment, and pay equity rights) are carried forward to a new water and wastewater public corporation. This would include regulation-making authority to help ensure continuity of services related to contracts and employees that are transferred to a new water and wastewater public corporation.
• Prohibiting the transfer of water and wastewater debt from Peel Region to the water and wastewater public corporation, while creating new regulation-making authority to enable future regulations to address all matters related to municipal debt.

Legislative Amendment to the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA - MECP)

• Legislative amendment to the Safe Drinking Water Act, 2002 (SDWA) to clarify that drinking water systems owned by WWPCs constitute municipal drinking water systems and such that applicable SDWA provisions would apply to them.

Through a separate posting, the Ministry will be inviting municipalities interested in adopting the water and wastewater public corporation model to submit a comment outlining their detailed interest. This input will help the Ministry determine next steps and support future expansion.

Analysis of Regulatory Impact

The current proposal is part of a multi-year pathway, the complete costs of which would need to be considered cumulatively at the time of local implementation.