The Water and Wastewater Public Corporations Act (WWPCA) is an Ontario law that has the power to change how the province’s water and wastewater services are managed. These services bring water to our taps and carry wastewater away, and most Ontarians depend on them every day.

The law raises serious concerns about the future of these essential services. Potential changes could mean Ontarians face higher water bills, less transparency and poor management. 

Here are four things you should know about the WWPCA.

1. The law lays out a path to privatization

Right now, municipalities deliver water and wastewater services in Ontario, and  elected councils manage them. Under the WWPCA, management could be transferred to water and wastewater public corporations. 

Despite the name, these corporations are not public. They are businesses. The law requires these corporations to be for-profit — they cannot be not-for-profit. 

For-profit corporations have one main goal: to generate revenue. When profit is the bottom line, public interest and environmental protection take a backseat. A corporation driven by financial returns has no place running a service that over 80 per cent of Ontarians depend on.  

2. It’s confusing (maybe on purpose)

 The minister has referred to water and wastewater public corporations as “municipal service corporations,” but that is false and misleading. Municipal service corporations (MSC) are an existing tool that keeps the service public and means decisions are made in the open, and councillors answer to voters. 

Under the WWPCA, water services could be managed through a new model, confusingly called water and wastewater public corporations. Unlike the existing MSC model, there is no guarantee that your water service stays public once management is handed over.

3. No local consent or public process is required

Water and wastewater management can be transferred without any studies, public consultations or the consent of local governments. 

The minister of municipal affairs and housing has the power to move these essential public services out of local control and into a newly formed, profit-focused corporation, whether or not the municipality agrees. This is a blatant abuse of power, and undermines the democratic system.

4. It is doomed to repeat a disastrous history

In Canada and around the world, water privatization has resulted in bigger bills, bad service, and dirty water. 

Hamilton privatized its water in the 1990s, and the results were disastrous: massive sewage spills, neighbourhood flooding, skyrocketing costs and years of restoration. The crisis lasted about 10 years, until the city officially returned its water and wastewater systems to public management. 

The Ontario government should learn from this chapter of its own history book — profit and water do not mix.

We have to take action now

The purpose of the government is to put public benefit ahead of private profit. Direct municipal governance of water and wastewater systems is what’s best for Ontarians. 

Take action today to urge the provincial government to repeal the WWPCA.