Health and Safety Water Stream

Overview

The Health and Safety Water Stream will help municipalities and First Nations build, expand or rehabilitate aging water, wastewater, stormwater, flood and erosion infrastructure. These projects will help preserve the current housing supply and protect communities during extreme weather events.

We are providing $175 million in funding through the Health and Safety Water Stream under the Municipal Housing Infrastructure Program.

Eligibility

Applicants

Municipalities in Ontario, defined under the Municipal Act, 2001.

Indigenous communities in Ontario, defined as Band Councils under the Indian Act (i.e., Indian Act Band Councils).

For any questions on the program or eligibility, contact MHIP@ontario.ca.

Ineligible applicants

Conservation Authorities (CA) that own or manage some municipal water assets are not eligible as primary applicants. Eligible applicants can work with their local CA and submit applications for publicly owned water assets.

Eligible projects

To be eligible for funding, projects must:

• protect or maintain housing units that are otherwise compromised by health and safety risks
• demonstrate that they will create climate resiliency and adaptation
• be new construction, rehabilitation or expansion
• have not started construction
• have a clear start and end date
• start no later than June 30, 2026, and must be completed by March 31, 2029
• include a capital component and may also include pre-construction planning and design work
• be in the process of, or completed, the design and planning phase
• meet all relevant provincial regulatory requirements and policy direction, as applicable

Water infrastructure assets that are eligible for funding include:

• drinking water, for example:
  • treatment plants
  • reservoirs
  • local pipes, including the distribution system watermain and the applicant portion of service lines
  • pump stations
• wastewater, for example:
  • lagoon systems
  • pump stations
  • lift station
  • linear assets
  • treatment plants
  • storage tanks
  • collection systems
• stormwater, for example:
  • management facilities
  • linear assets, including conveyance piping, ditches and culverts
• water management, flood and erosion infrastructure, including shoreline protection works, for example:
  • dams^{footnote 1[1]}
  • dykes^{footnote 1[1]}
  • conveyance improvements
  • riverine non-structural and structural erosion management

Joint projects

We encourage joint projects between multiple eligible applicants, where each co-applicant contributes financially to the project.

Each individual applicant is allowed to submit one application. If an applicant chooses to submit a joint application with another applicant, the submission would be counted as their single application.

Ineligible projects and costs

Ineligible projects include:

• projects that have started construction
• privately-owned water systems (for example, year-round, non-applicant residential systems)

All costs associated with preparing the application are ineligible for funding and should not be included in the scope or financials of the application.

Additional eligibility and project conditions can be found in the Municipal Housing Infrastructure Program — Health and Safety Water Stream program guidelines. These guidelines are also available through the application portal on Transfer Payment Ontario (TPON).

Funding amounts

Standard cost sharing

Projects will be cost shared between applicants and the province. The province would fund a maximum of 73% (up to $30 million) of eligible project costs, and the applicant would be required to fund all remaining (a minimum of 27%) project costs.

Joint applications

For joint applications, the primary applicant can apply for up to $30 million in provincial contribution on total eligible costs, times the number of applicants.

For example, a joint project with three eligible co-applicants can submit a project with a combined provincial contribution of up to $90 million ($30 million multiplied by 3 eligible applicants equals $90 million).

Stacking

Recipients may combine (stack) other federal, First Nations and municipal funding to fund the 27% minimum recipient contribution. Recipients are responsible for determining if federal funding can be used towards the project being submitted to the province.

Provincial stacking will not be permitted, with the exception of funding received from the Building Faster Fund (BFF) and the Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund (OCIF). 

For questions about the Municipal Housing Infrastructure Program, email MHIP@ontario.ca. 

For questions related to the TPON system, contact TPONCC@ontario.ca or visit Get funding from the Ontario government.