The Ontario government updated regulations within the Drainage Act to better serve farmers, landowners and municipalities by helping them save time and money through a more simplified process.

Key facts:

• Streamline approvals for farmers, rural landowners and municipalities undertaking drainage projects.
• Reducing the time it takes to make minor improvements to drainage systems, including municipal drains.
• Changing the timelines for response from drainage engineer from 90 days to 180 days.
• A simplified process to update the engineers’ report to account for changes to the drainage design made during construction.
• The updated regulations did NOT adopt the Drainage Act and Conservation Authorities Act Protocol (DART Protocol) by reference in the Minister’s Regulation. This protocol remains optional for municipalities to use.
• The updated regulations came into force and effect on June 30, 2021.

OFA submitted comments in response to the Drainage Act regulatory proposal outlining recommendations and changes to the government’s proposed amendments. To read our submission, click here.

For more information, click here to read the government news release.