Hello,

Tomorrow will be July 1, so happy pre-emptive Canada Day!

Towards the end of May a joint meeting of the Agriculture and Rural Affairs and Environment and Climate Change Committees approved changes to the water rate structure, which will come into effect in 2027. The City says the changes “result in more equitably distributed costs for water, wastewater and stormwater while keeping water bills affordable for Ottawa residents, and economically competitive compared to other cities in Ontario.”

Much of the discussion at the meeting focused on different impacts to urban and rural areas. In terms of rate changes, the average residential property’s rate would decrease by about 2% and an average multi-residential property would see no change, while an average non-residential property would see an increase of 5%. Vacant land properties in rural areas and some farms would begin contributing to stormwater costs, but most rural residential properties’ stormwater fees would decrease. Overall, the new water rate structure is expected to be revenue-neutral for the City.

Part of the changes include a transition to billing for stormwater costs based on impervious surface area. In urban areas, information collected by routine aerial surveillance would map the impervious sections of a property (like paved areas and rooftops) to determine a fee for that property. Residents of property in rural areas would pay no stormwater fee, but would instead pay a special area levy to fund rural roadside ditch maintenance.

The City says this change will more fairly distribute costs so that residents in rural and urban areas will pay for the stormwater services particular to their areas. Members of the public attending the meeting raised concerns about how exposed bedrock on properties would be counted as impervious, and asked for clarification that ground mounted solar panels would not be considered impervious surfaces (Council confirmed they will not be be).

CAFES’s Angela Keller-Herzog also said that polices should do more to incentivize building better.

David Brown, City Councillor for Ward 21, ended the meeting by saying the water rate change “is likely most common sense policies we've seen come forward” and would help correct errors for water rate billing made during amalgamation.

“I think that helps every area of the city. One thing that we hear regardless of where we are is you don't want to be subsidizing a different part of city. You want to make sure that your taxes and your fees are going towards the infrastructure in your community and that's what we have here—we're going to ensure moving forward, that each area of the city pays for the infrastructure they have, not the infrastructure they don't.”

Randall Denly, former Progressive Conservative candidate for Member of Provincial Parliament in Ottawa West—Nepean, disagrees in this column published in the Ottawa Citizen.

Stories From The PEN!

This month’s stories from the PEN include:

• Ecology Ottawa shares perspectives from two participants in an intergenerational dialogue hosted by Climate Legacy, in Sharing the Present: Organizing Across Generations for Climate Action.

• An update on the 250-megawatt Marchurst Battery Energy Storage System reports that Ottawa City Council approved a municipal support resolution for the project on a 20-3 vote. The project still faces opposition from residents living near where the project will be developed, with a local newspaper estimating that the community overall is “pretty evenly split” over the issue.

• Another post from Ecology Ottawa encourages you to Submit your comments on Draft 2 of the New Zoning By-law! While the deadline to submit comments will pass on the same day that this PEN Newsletter is published, readers can still glean valuable information on how the By-law might affect Ottawa residents.

Call For Submissions

Do you have insights or experiences about ongoing issues that you want to share through the PEN?

The PEN is seeking original stories that discuss peace and environmental issues affecting Ottawa and its communities. While parameters are flexible, stories generally aim to be between 400-1000 words and should be submitted 10 days before the end of each month. If you have something you’d like to write about for an upcoming newsletter, please email [email protected] with a brief description of your idea (no fully written stories please!) and a 1-2 sentence bio about yourself and your connection to the issue.

From the PEN Archives

The June 1994 edition of the PEN announced that the Ontario Environmental Bill of Rights Electronic Registry became available to the public as of May 15 of that year.

The Electronic Registry is still active and accessible here—read the start of last month’s May 2025 PEN newsletter for some examples of why it might be important to check it out.

Other News

• A partnership between Growcer, RBC and the Ottawa Mission launched an initiative to use indoor, vertical farming to provide greens for the Mission’s meals. The greens will be grown with hydroponic techniques in two modules located in the area of Hunt Club Road and Woodroffe Avenue.

• City Councillor Shawn Menard wants a referendum called for the Lansdowne 2.0 project. Mayor Mark Sutcliffe does not. The Ottawa Lookout writes about it here.

• Residents can share feedback about the City’s Solid Waste Master Plan, which was passed in June 2024, here.

• Ottawa Bylaw Services issued 452,202 parking tickets in 2024, up from 298,918 in 2023 and amounting to about 1,200 tickets issued per day. The top infraction was for failing to pay/not placing a stub on a vehicle when street parking, for which 65,602 tickets were issued.

• Bay Ward Coun. Theresa Kavanagh wants the City to reconsider its approval for the 445-hectare Tewin development, saying that moving forward with the original plans would be “costly, rushed, and noted that there should be more consultation done with local Indigenous communities,” reports the Ottawa Lookout.

• Several new laws will take effect on July 1, Canada Day. Read CTV’s rundown here.

• The Ontario provincial government fast-tracked Bill 17 to royal assent earlier this month, which some experts say could weaken cities’ powers to pass green building standards.

• A People’s Committee will be meeting July 3 at 2-4pm on Zoom to discuss the Lansdowne 2.0 project. More information can be found here.

I look forward to connecting with you again next month through the PEN Newsletter. In the meantime, please use the comments section of the newsletter or email [email protected] with thoughts or questions.

—Christopher Bonasia, PEN editor

PERC appreciates all of our readers for giving us this chance to connect with members of our community, and we love being able to provide you with a forum to discuss pressing environmental and social justice issues.

But we also rely on your support to make this happen. If you are interested in helping our organization continue to use storytelling and networking to help individuals, non-profits, and community groups work locally for a greener and more peaceful world, please consider making a donation to the Peace and Environment Resource Centre.