A Special Meeting of Council will be held at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, June 22, 2021. The meeting was called to discuss the Provincial Bill 306, the York Region Wastewater Act, 2021. The Bill, if passed, would put a hold on any decision relating to the Environmental Assessment application for the Upper York Sewage Solutions (UYSS) project. The Province also intends to establish an Expert Advisory Panel to provide advice on options to address wastewater servicing capacity needs in York Region. 

The UYSS has been proposed as the sewage solution to facilitate future growth in York Region. The proposed Bill is posted on the Environmental Registry of Ontario for public comment until July 4, 2021. For more information about the public, visit the York Region Wastewater Act page. Following the Council meeting, the Town will be providing comment as part of the public process. 
Join the Special Meeting of Council 

This is a project of The Regional Municipality of York. The key components are a proposed Water Reclamation Centre with associated infrastructure including an outfall to the East Holland River.

Once approved, York Region will be the first municipality in Canada to adopt leading-edge, advanced wastewater treatment technology that will produce water cleaner than existing water from local lakes and rivers.

To accomplish this, the proposed Upper York Sewage Solutions Project includes:

  • A new Water Reclamation Centre (WRC) to produce clean, treated water that will flow into the East Holland River; and reclaimed water for proposed water re-use applications such as sod and tree farms. Using reclaimed water for applications like these would reduce demand on surface and groundwater resources.
  • The total phosphorus offsetting program is being developed to ensure there will be a net reduction in total phosphorus to the East Holland River related to the operation of the new system.  In order to achieve this, York Region will remove three kilograms of phosphorus for every one kilogram of additional phosphorus that the centre discharges to the watershed. We will do this by retrofitting existing stormwater management ponds and using low-impact development technologies to reduce the level of phosphorus entering the Lake Simcoe watershed. Learn more about the Water Reclamation Centre and Phosphorus Offset Program.
  • The decommissioning of the Holland Landing lagoons depends on provincial approval of the Upper York Sewage Solutions Environmental Assessment. If the Upper York Sewage Solutions project is approved, the province will approve decommissioning the lagoons and transferring the operating permit to the Water Reclamation Centre once the Water Reclamation Centre is built, tested and ready to operate. Learn more about the Operational Changes and Micronutrient Pilot Program.

Visit york.ca/upperyork to learn more about this project, including a list of frequently asked questions. 

To learn more about this project, please contact Access York by email or calling 1-877-464-9675.

Access York

Hours of operation: Monday to Friday: 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. 
Phone:  1-877-464-9675