Toronto Water’s key priorities are delivering clean, safe drinking water, treating wastewater, and managing stormwater in an environmentally and fiscally responsible way for the city’s residents, businesses and visitors. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Toronto Water has provided uninterrupted critical services to residents and businesses. Toronto Water is recommending a 2022 capital budget of $1.4 billion – the largest capital program delivered by Toronto Water in its history – and a 10-year capital plan (2022 to 2031) of $15.1 billion. It is important to ensure the City can continue to provide quality drinking water and wastewater treatment services while dealing with the impact of extreme storms, aging infrastructure and significant growth.
Toronto Water service overview
- Provides approximately 435 billion litres of safe drinking water to more than 3.6 million residents and businesses in Toronto and portions of York Region annually.
- Collects and treats approximately 400 billion litres of wastewater (from sources including toilets, dishwashers and washing machines) every year.
- Protects the environment and private property, including basement flooding protection, from stormwater runoff (rain and melted snow). In 2013, City Council approved an expansion to the Basement Flooding Protection Program, increasing the number of basement flooding study areas from 31 areas in 2006 to 67. A total of 43 study areas have now been completed; 24 new studies were initiated in 2019 and will be completed in 2022 and 2023.
- These major multi-year capital projects (total value of approximately $723 million) will begin in the remainder of 2021 or in 2022:
- Ashbridges Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant (ABTP) D Building and Polymer Upgrade construction projects ($60 million and $112 million respectively);
- Fairbanks Silverthorn Tunnel Local Sewers Contracts 3 and 4 ($142 million);
- Highland Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant (HCTP) Firm Capacity and Fluidized Bed Incineration construction projects ($230 million and $118 million respectively);
- Clark Water Treatment Plant Stand-by Power ($62 million).
- Toronto Water’s asset valuation: Historically, Toronto Water’s core assets were valued at $28 billion for water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure based on historical costs of constructed assets inflated to estimate its replacement as well as appraisal valuations.
- In 2017, the Province of Ontario enacted a new regulation to support improvements in municipal asset management.
- Toronto Water’s Asset Management Planning was completed in 2021 and the updated replacement cost of Toronto Water’s infrastructure is $83 billion.
- The updated asset replacement valuation takes into consideration recent appraisal reports for facilities and average unit rates for pipe installation based on bid pricing. The replacement costs will continue to be evaluated as costs can vary significantly based on site constraints and conditions, project delivery approach, project bundling, market conditions and material price fluctuations.
Budget overview
The recommended 2022 Toronto Water budget consists of:
- an operating budget of $471.2 million plus a capital reserve contribution of $975.8 million for a total operating budget of $1.4 billion.
- a fully funded capital budget of $1.4 billion (gross) (spent on water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure projects).
- a capital reserve used for construction of new assets and the development and renewal of existing infrastructure.
- 10-year (2022 to 2031) capital plan of $15.1 billion includes:
- $4.4 billion for water treatment and supply
- $6.6 billion for wastewater treatment and collection, including:
- $3.4 billion for wastewater treatment plant upgrades;
- $2.3 billion for sewer replacement and rehabilitation, and trunk sewer rehabilitation.
- $4.1 billion for stormwater management, including:
- $1.32 billion for Don River and Central Waterfront & Connected Projects
- $2.27 billion Basement Flooding Protection program
