The law

By law, all phase 1 industrial or commercial water users must report and pay $3.71 for every million litres of water that they take each year.

Effective August 1, 2017, water-bottling facilities with permits to take water must pay an additional $500 for every million litres of groundwater taken (for a total of $503.71 per million litres).

Phase 1 water users

Phase 1 industrial or commercial water users that take more than 50,000 litres on any single day where water is incorporated into a product include:

  • water-bottling facilities
  • beverage manufacturing facilities
  • fruit and vegetable canning or pickling facilities
  • ready-mix concrete manufacturing facilities
  • other non-metallic mineral product manufacturing facilities
  • pesticide, fertilizer and other agricultural chemical manufacturing facilities
  • other inorganic chemical manufacturing facilities

Source law

You can find a complete set of rules related to this activity in:

Water charges

The $3.71 per million litres charge for phase 1 industrial or commercial water users will apply to the total volume of water taken each year (annual volume of water withdrawn x $3.71 per million litres). Water-bottling facilities with permits to take groundwater will be charged $3.71 per million litres plus an additional $500 per million litres for a total of $503.71 per million litres of groundwater taken.

Ontario will invoice and collect the charge directly from phase 1 industrial or commercial water users (including permitted water bottling facilities).

Who must report

If you are a phase 1 industrial or commercial water user and you pay a water charge, you must submit a one-time report to the ministry.

Deadline to submit report: within 30 days of operation.

What to report

The owner of a facility that is a phase 1 industrial or commercial water user must report:

  • the address of the facility
  • contact information for the facility
  • contact information, including name and title of the person who should be contacted
  • facility billing information
  • the class of facility and a description of how the water is used
  • the names of the owner of the facility
  • the number of the facility’s water taking permit if applicable
  • the name of the owner of the water works if applicable
  • the account number that the owner of the water works uses to charge the facility for its water use if applicable
  • the method the facility uses to measure the amount of water it uses

How to report

To submit your one-time report:

  1. open the excel document: Industrial and Commercial Reporting Template
  2. fill out the template
  3. save the file
  4. email form to: WTRSHelpDesk@ontario.ca

How to update report

To update any information on your report, contact:

The Water Taking Reporting System Help Desk
1-877-344-2011 (toll-free)
416-235-6322 (Toronto area)
WTRSHelpdesk@ontario.ca