Several previously pending amendments to Ontario's water and wastewater corporation law are now in force

Plain-language summary · AI-assisted · not legal advice

A group of amendments to the Water and Wastewater Public Corporations Act, 2025 that had been flagged as "not yet in force" have now been given an effective date. The changes that are now operative include: a requirement that shares of a water and wastewater public corporation can only be issued to, or transferred between, municipalities, the Province, the federal government, or their agents; a prohibition on transferring assets used for water or sewage services unless the board has declared the asset surplus; clearer rules on municipal transfer by-laws, including that they must state the effective date of each transfer, cannot transfer municipal debenture obligations, and are binding as of that stated date; employment continuity protections for workers transferred under those by-laws; and expanded ministerial regulation-making powers covering debt management, legal effect of transfers, and agreements. Municipalities currently providing water and sewage services, the corporations being set up to deliver those services, and any shareholders or employees involved in a transfer need to ensure their arrangements comply with these now-active rules.

Who this affects: lower-tier municipalities providing water and sewage services · water and wastewater public corporations · shareholders and directors of those corporations · employees transferred under transfer by-laws · municipal councils making transfer by-laws