Help coming for Mississauga and Brampton residents with high water bills

Some Mississauga and Brampton residents who have received an unusually high water bill may soon be eligible for financial assistance.

During today’s Regional Council meeting (June 9), Council discussed the Water Bill Adjustment Pilot Program, which will provide financial assistance to help residents pay water bills that are significantly higher than normal.

According to a report presented to Council, the Region receives approximately 2,300 complaints about unexpectedly high water bills every year.

A water bill may be unexpectedly high when there’s an undetected leak or unintentional water use inside the home or within the property line, or in rarer cases, incidents of water theft where the water supply is being illegally tapped.

The Region says any single-unit residential home, including those with a basement tenant, will be eligible for the pilot program. Estimated participation for the pilot program equates to approximately 1,000 residential customers in Peel who will be eligible each year.

Similarly to the leak insurance policy program being implemented in Hamilton, Peel’s program would provide a maximum benefit of $2,500 per residential customer for undetected leaks, and with a proof of repair to verify that the customer is fixing the leak.

The insurance policy program being implemented in Hamilton is a mandatory opt-in program for all residential customers, with insurance premiums covered within the water rate.

The financial impact of pilot program over the two-year period is estimated to be $700,000 per year, plus a contract staff position of $100,000 per year, for a total cost of $800,000.

According to the report, the 2,300 yearly complaints about high water bills in Peel represents less than 1% of all residential accounts.

“The number of complaints is relatively low, but since most customers are billed quarterly, they are often not aware of unusually high-water use for several months,” says the report from Kealy Dedman, Commissioner of Public Works.

“This delayed notification impacts a customer’s ability to remedy the situation, which can lead to a significantly high bill and an unexpected financial burden.”

The pilot program, scheduled to begin in mid-2022, will require a half year of funding for 2022 and will be funded from the Utility Rate Stabilization reserve.

Staff will evaluate the pilot program over a two-year period and will report back to Council in 2024.