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The Drainage Act provides for the construction and management of many of the communal drainage systems in rural Ontario. "Municipal drains", are vital to the communities, roads and surrounding lands in rural Ontario. They reduce flooding, improve safety and reduce property damage.
New drain
Landowners in an area requiring drainage can sign a Petition for Drainage, which will set in motion a project to create a new municipal drain. This falls under Section 4 of the Drainage Act.
Maintenance and repair
The most common application is one that falls under Section 74 of the Drainage Act, which is your basic Maintenance & Repair work. This usually includes work such as clean outs, removal of beavers/dams, repairing/replacing tile and generally repairing the existing drain in a way that does not detract from the drain's original construction.
Repair and improvement
If an existing drain requires significant repair and as a result the repair includes changing the original drain's infrastructure in a way that is different from the original engineered plans, an application should be filed under Section 78 - Repair & Improvement. Examples of this include widening, lengthening, deepening a drain, etc.
Drain forms
To download a copy of a Petition Form for a new drain - Section 4.
To download a copy of a Notice of Drain Maintenance and/or Repair - Section 74.
To download a copy of a Notice of Request for Drain Improvement for an existing drain - Section 78.
For information about Municipal Drains, please refer to: Ministry of Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs.
Tile loans
Installing tile drainage is a very common land improvement practice among farmers in Ontario. Corrugated plastic tubing, clay and concrete drain tile are installed beneath the surface of agricultural land to drain excess water from the crop root zone. The benefits of tile drainage for crop productivity, farm efficiency and even for reducing environmental impacts have been studied and are generally well known to farmers.
The Tile Drainage Act provides for loans to agricultural property owners to help finance these projects. OMAFRA has prepared a Fact Sheet about the Tile Loan Program. Tile Loan Application Forms are also available through OMAFRA or at the Municipal Office.
The program in a nutshell
Landowners in West Perth planning to install a tile drainage system on their agricultural land are eligible for a tile loan under this program.
- All tile loans have 10-year terms, and repayments are made annually with your property tax instalments.
- Landowners are eligible for a loan of up to 75% of the value of the tile drainage work, up to $50,000
- The provincial government sets the program interest rate .This rate is fixed for the full term of the loan, regardless of changes in market interest rates.
The application process is quite simple. Application forms are available at the Municipal Office, please contact the Deputy Treasurer. The Application must be submitted to West Perth Council. Once Council approves the application, the owner arranges to have the work completed by a licensed tile drainage contractor (for more information see the OMAFRA Factsheet Agricultural Drainage Licensing.
The Municipality collects the loan repayments from the owner and remits them to OMAFRA. Defaulted payments are rare but are treated in the same manner as unpaid taxes. The loan can be repaid in full at any time. Contact the Deputy Treasurer, (519)348-8429 ext. 227 to find out the amount still owing at the time of your proposed payout date.
Is your farm tiled?
You can visit the Agricultural Information Atlas site - once past the agreement of terms, you will be able to zoom to your property and see the random and systematic tile that exists. Please note that this map is not provided by the Municipality of West Perth, so if you have any questions about the map or that website, please contact OMAFRA.
Drainage legislation/factsheets
Residents often have questions about the municipal drain process, which can be a long process with many steps. The Ontario Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) has many fact sheets about municipal drains to assist land owners.
Sometimes when a municipal drain is being proposed other landowners have an objection to it or to the portion they are required to pay. OMAFRA has information on the different Drainage Act Appeals that may be available to you.