Norfolk County might have the highest water rate among municipalities in Ontario.
Oct 29, 2025 • Last updated Oct 29, 2025 •
Simcoe water tower Photo by Staff /
Norfolk County might have the highest water rate among municipalities in Ontario.
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This was suggested during a budget meeting on Tuesday when councillors agreed to a 10.2 per cent hike, which will add around $15 monthly to the average user’s water and wastewater bill starting in January.
The county’s water and wastewater rates have gone up more than 37 per cent since 2022. Next year, the typical user will pay about $1,948 for these services.
It’s no surprise that water use has dropped in the county, said Coun. Mike Columbus.
“I’ve had some residents tell me they’re not filling their bathtubs up as high and they’re reluctant to flush their toilets.”
County treasurer Amy Fanning mentioned that the 2026 water/wastewater budget “continues to tell a very similar story to what has been told in previous years and represents an ongoing struggle between significant infrastructure needs and resident affordability.”
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“We know our rates are high,” said Andrew Grice, Norfolk’s manager of public works. “We know our water bills are higher than those of our neighbouring municipalities. But our rate budget is driven by capital investment and that’s to close our infrastructure gap and maintain the levels of service our council has adopted as part of our asset management plan.”
The budget includes capital spending for 2026 totaling just over $8.5 million, with about half allocated for rehabilitation of the Port Dover water tower and $1.2 million for upgrades at sewage pumping stations, among other smaller projects.
The real concern is the projected ten-year capital plan requiring $416 million in necessary upgrades. This includes costs like $245 million for an inter-urban water supply program; $118 million for major wastewater replacements and upgrades; and $34 million for significant water replacement improvements.
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The Ontario government mandated municipalities to create strategic asset management plans for essential infrastructure like water, wastewater, roads, and bridges back in 2019. Fanning noted this led to skyrocketing capital costs for many municipalities where infrastructure had fallen into disrepair.
“If we go back five years, our ten-year capital plan total was $182 million,” she explained. “Asset management wasn’t provincially mandated then; most municipalities weren’t doing it.”
“Now all of a sudden we’re planning for $425 million. While that’s scary and daunting, it’s also good because we understand more about our assets and their current conditions.”
CAO Al Meneses mentioned there “seems to be a narrative out there” suggesting that much of the rate budget increases stem from growth. In reality, this year only saw an increase of just 94 residential water bills issued by the county compared to last year-bringing the total to 15,559.
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“The vast majority of these increases are tied specifically to assets underground that haven’t been replaced on time,” Meneses stated. “Historically we’ve underfunded our reserves while inflationary costs keep rising.”
The situation is worsened by having few users overall; Coun. Tom Masschaele pointed out that only around 60 percent of households are connected to municipal water services.
While Mayor Amy Martin described this budget as “gloomy,” she highlighted substantial projects started during this council term including work at wastewater treatment plants in Simcoe and Port Dover as well as those at drinking treatment plants in Port Dover and Port Rowan.
“We need to keep pushing upper levels of government for investments into Norfolk’s assets,” Martin added. “This year’s rate represents another step forward in a long-term improvement plan thanks to hard work from staff focused on modernizing aging infrastructure.”
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