At its February 17 meeting, District of Muskoka Council gave staff a green light to enter into a funding agreement with the government of Ontario for $8,285,605.
James Steele, District Commissioner of Engineering and Public Works, noted in a report to council that the funds are being provided through the Province’s Municipal Housing Infrastructure Program – Health and Safety Water Stream and will cover up to 73 per cent of eligible costs associated with securing Muskoka’s water and sewer facilities, critical to public health, environmental protection, fire protection, and the preservation of existing housing across the District.
“Many of these systems rely on continuous electrical power to operate treatment processes, pumping stations, and monitoring systems,” explained Steele. “In recent years, Muskoka has experienced an increase in severe weather events and prolonged power outages, which have exposed vulnerabilities in aging standby power infrastructure and, in some cases, the absence of permanent backup power at key facilities. During these events, District operations staff have been required to deploy portable generators under hazardous conditions to maintain essential services, with several documented incidents of generator failure, near overflows, and service disruption.”
The District retained a consultant to review its response following severe weather events in 2024 and 2025. One recommendation was to create a standby power plan for District facilities.
“To assist with funding the implementation of recommended changes, the District applied to the Province’s Municipal Housing Infrastructure Program – Health and Safety Water Stream (HSWS). The application proposed a coordinated program of generator installations, generator replacements, and targeted wet well upgrades at critical water and wastewater facilities throughout the District. The Province has since advised that the District’s application was successful, subject to execution of a Transfer Payment Agreement and completion of the project by March 31, 2029,” noted Steele.
He said the funds will result in the installation of about 25 new permanent standby generators at sewage pumping stations, the replacement of approximately eight aging generators at treatment facilities, reservoirs and wet well capacity upgrades at up to seven locations.
“These assets were prioritized based on operational risk, service population, history of power-related disruptions, and exposure to extreme weather. Many of the identified wastewater pumping stations were constructed when surrounding development levels were significantly lower and were not originally equipped with permanent backup power. As residential growth has increased, these facilities now represent high-risk points for sewage backups and environmental spills during power outages,” states Steele’s report.
The District portion of the cost, an estimated $3,064,540 remaining, plus any overruns or items not covered, will be funded through the water and wastewater rate-supported capital budgets.
Staff will return with a progress report, particularly if there are overruns.
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