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Document ID ca-on-mwsmodp-2021 Title Municipal Wastewater and Stormwater Management in Ontario Discussion Paper URL unknown Jurisdiction /ca/on Subdomain(s) Wastewater, Stormwater Language en Status completed Analyzed at 2026-03-29 23:06:33.516197+00:00 Relevance This is a government discussion paper on proposed policy updates for wastewater.

9 Qualitative 0 Quantitative 26 Definitions

Q Qualitative Requirements (9)

Req ID	Category	Intent	Legal Status	Name	Subdomain(s)	Context	Conditions	Confidence
#Q001	operational	operational	mandatory	Municipal responsibility for system compliance	wastewater, other	Municipalities, as owners of many of these wastewater and stormwater systems, are responsible for building and operating their systems in compliance with provincial requirements.		high
#Q002	prohibition	operational	mandatory	Prohibition of new combined sewers	wastewater	Construction of new combined sewers is no longer permitted in Ontario but separating existing combined sewers or mitigating their negative impact is a costly and time-consuming process.		high
#Q003	administrative	unknown	mandatory	Official plan policies for water conservation	other	A Place to Grow also requires municipalities to develop and implement official plan policies and other strategies in support of water conservation objectives, including through water recycling.		high
#Q004	prohibition	treatment	mandatory	Portable toilet waste land application prohibition	wastewater	Land application of portable toilet waste is prohibited in Ontario without treatment prior to application.	without treatment prior to application	high
#Q005	administrative	operational	mandatory	Compliance with local requirements for hauled sewage	wastewater	operators of land disposal sites for hauled sewage must follow local requirements such as municipal official plans and zoning by-laws.		high
#Q006	administrative	reporting	mandatory	Asset management plans for wastewater and stormwater	wastewater, other	All municipal governments were required to have a finalized strategic asset management policy by July 2019, and their asset management plan for core assets, including wastewater and stormwater infrastructure, are to be completed and approved by July 2022.		high
#Q007	administrative	operational	guidance	Routine alterations without application	wastewater	The new ECAs will also streamline the approvals process for sewage works as they will contain preauthorization conditions that will allow municipalities to make routine alterations to their collection system without an application to MECP as long as the conditions of the CLI-ECA are met.	as long as the conditions of the CLI-ECA are met	high
#Q008	operational	operational	mandatory	Property owner responsibility for stormwater management	other	The property owners (homeowners and businesses) have responsibility for the management of stormwater on their respective land prior to it flowing onto municipal road rights-of-way, into municipal stormwater infrastructure, onto other lands or directly into our waterways.	prior to it flowing onto municipal road rights-of-way, into municipal stormwater infrastructure, onto other lands or directly into our waterways	high
#Q009	administrative	reporting	mandatory	CLI-ECA application submission deadline	wastewater, other	Municipalities were invited to apply for a CLI-ECA in August 2021, and applications are due back to the ministry in early 2022.	for municipalities invited to apply in August 2021	high

P Quantitative Requirements (0)

No quantitative requirements.

D Definitions (26)

Req ID	Name	Context	Confidence
#D001	municipal wastewater	-municipal wastewater is primarily the sanitary sewage from homes and businesses and often some industrial wastewater discharged into municipal sanitary or combined sewers and conveyed for treatment at municipal wastewater treatment plants. - Municipal wastewater also includes some inflow and infiltration of stormwater and groundwater entering sewers through imperfect pipe joints, and often also through illegal connections from roof leaders and foundation drains. - In combined sewer systems, municipal wastewater also includes stormwater collected through catch basins connected to the combined sewers. - Under the Ontario Water Resources Act , both wastewater and stormwater is considered 'sewage,' and all facilities for the collection, conveyance, treatment and/or disposal of wastewater and or stormwater are 'sewage works.'	high
#D002	stormwater	- rainwater or melted snow/ice that runs off along the surface of the ground or soaks into the ground.	high
#D003	sewage overflow	- raw (untreated) sewage (wastewater) discharged from a wastewater collection system or wastewater treatment plant to the environment.	high
#D004	sewage bypass	- partially treated sewage (wastewater) discharged from a wastewater treatment plant to the environment, resulting from diversion of sewage (wastewater) flow around one or more treatment processes within a wastewater treatment plant.	high
#D005	basement flooding	- sewage (wastewater) backup from sanitary or combined sewers into basements, or stormwater runoff that flows into basements during severe wet weather events.	high
#D006	urban flooding	- excess stormwater runoff flowing over urbanized areas, impacting homes (basement flooding), infrastructure, roads, underpasses and transportation routes.	high
#D007	water reuse	- the practice of reclaiming water from a variety of sources, treating it, and reusing it for beneficial purposes, which can provide alternative supplies for non-potable uses to enhance water supply sustainability and resilience.	high
#D008	water conservation	- means a reduction in the use, loss or waste of water or an increase in the efficiency of water use.	high
#D009	Hauled sewage	untreated waste material removed from portable toilets, sewage holding tanks and septic systems.	high
#D010	sewage works	all facilities for the collection, conveyance, treatment and/or disposal of wastewater and or stormwater	high
#D011	Green stormwater infrastructure	mimics the natural water cycle by managing stormwater close to where rain falls and where snow melts to reduce runoff volume and release of contaminants to waterways	high
#D012	Blue roofs	designed to temporarily detain rainwater on flat, low-sloped roofs over an extended period of time, releasing the water gradually which reduces the potential of overflow in the municipal stormwater systems during heavy rain events	high
#D013	Public private partnerships (P3s)	an alternative form of financing which involves leveraging private sector investment through a contractual agreement that allows for private sector involvement in planning, design, construction, financing, operation and maintenance of new infrastructure, or the rehabilitation and replacement of aging infrastructure, while always maintaining public ownership and control	high
#D014	ECAs	environmental compliance approvals	high
#D015	OWRA	Ontario Water Resources Act	high
#D016	MECP	Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks	high
#D017	LID	low impact development	high
#D018	ROW	road rights-of-way	high
#D019	CLI	consolidated linear infrastructure	high
#D020	septage	untreated waste material removed from portable toilets, sewage holding tanks and septic systems	high
#D021	sewage	wastewater and stormwater	high
#D022	combined sewers	Older systems collect municipal wastewater and stormwater in the same pipes	high
#D023	sanitary sewers	system of pipes conveying all flow [of municipal wastewater] to one or more centralized wastewater treatment plants	high
#D024	CVC	Credit Valley Conservation	high
#D025	MEC	Mountain Equipment Co-op	high
#D026	WSER	Wastewater Systems Effluent Regulations	high