Water and Sewer Bill | City of Orillia

Residential accounts are billed for water and sewer every three months, and non-residential accounts are billed every two months. Bill amounts are determined by the City's water and wastewater rates and the consumption of water as registered by your water meter, which is regularly read electronically by the City.

Payments must be received by the City on or before the due date to avoid a late payment charge of 5%.

Water usage online portal

Use the Water Usage Customer Portal to track your usage and set up alerts for usage changes or possible leaks. All Orillia residents and businesses that have a water and sewer account can create an account.

A higher water bill could be an indicator that you have a leak within your home. Residents and businesses are responsible for water consumption, including consumption caused by leaks.

Go to the Water Usage Customer Portal

Setting up an account

Read these instructions before you set up your water usage portal account:

You will need:

The e-mail address you would like to use for the account.
Your City of Orillia water bill.
Think of a password (this must contain eight characters minimum and include one lower case, one upper case, one number and one special character.)

When entering your City of Orillia water and sewer account information:

Do not include the "WS" when entering the account number.
Do include the decimal and all digits, including zeros.
For residents: Enter the name of the person on the first line of the water bill exactly as it appears.
For companies: Enter a company name on the first line of the water bill exactly as it appears.

When you open the Water Usage Customer Portal, select "Need to set up an account?" scroll down and click Accept.

An email invitation will be emailed to the email you have entered in the portal. Click on the link in the email invitation and finish setting up the login with address and account number, as indicated in the instructions above.

Paying your water and sewer bill

Sign up for the water and sewer Pre-Authorized Water Payment Plan for a convenient and secure way to pay your bill. You can also pay your bill directly to the City of Orillia by visiting the City Centre, by mailing a cheque or using the secure drop box.

Pre-authorized payments

Request to have your water and sewer payments automatically withdrawn from your bank account at no cost.

The frequency of the bank withdrawals is as per the due date listed on the bill. Before signing up, all outstanding balances must be paid.

Start your plan by completing the Pre-Authorized Water Payment Plan form.

Online or telephone banking

Pay your water and sewer bill through your bank using online or telephone banking.

Add Orillia as the payee, search "Orillia" select the water option from the payee list to add the City, use the complete water and sewer account number including the WS (no spaces or decimal point).

Payment is credited to the account the date it is received in our office, allow a minimum of 3 to 5 business days to ensure your payment reaches the City by the due date.

Financial institutions

Water payments can also be paid at most financial institutions using your bill.

Payment is credited to the account the date it is received in our office, allow a minimum of 3 to 5 business days to ensure your payment reaches the City by the due date.

In person

Pay your water and sewer bill in person using cash, cheque or debit during regular business hours.

Visit the City Centre at 50 Andrew Street South, Orillia, ON L3V 7T5

Afterhours drop slot

Payments can be made with your water and sewer account information and a cheque using the City Centre afterhours drop slot, located outside the main doors at 50 Andrew Street South, Orillia, ON L3V 7T5

By mail

Mail your water and sewer account information in an envelope with your cheque.

Payable to: City of Orillia

Mail to: 50 Andrew Street South, Orillia, ON L3V 7T5

Receive your bill by email

Go paperless and receive your water and sewer bill by email. You will need your most recent water and sewer bill to enter your account information. Submit your request at least 15 days before your next bill.

Request to receive your water and sewer bill by email

Water rebates

You may be eligible for a rebate if you have replaced your toilet(s) with an Ultralow Flush (6 litre) or Dual Flush (3 litre) toilet(s) or have installed a Low Flow Showerhead (5.7-9.5 L/min.), limit of two units per household of any of these items. Eligible households can apply for a rebate within six months of the item's purchase date.

Billing for landlords and tenants

If you would like your tenants to receive the water and sewer bill, complete the Owner Agreement for Tenant Form. Completing this form will create a water and sanitary sewer account care of the tenants.

Closing a water and sewer account

If you have sold your property in Orillia, or if your tenant is vacating the property, you must notify the City before the move-out date and provide a forwarding address to close the account.

Stormwater Billing

Residential properties

Residential properties with three or fewer units pay a flat stormwater fee as set out in Municipal Code Chapter 461 - Stormwater. “Impervious Area” refers to the area on a property covered by artificial structures such as buildings, asphalt, concrete, brick, stone and rooftops, which do not allow infiltration of stormwater into the underlying ground.

Multi-residential and non-residential properties

Stormwater fees for multi-residential or non-residential properties are based on the “Impervious Area Equivalent”. Impervious Area Equivalent means an estimation used by the City of the Impervious Area on a property based on the rooftop area and property type and size.

The Impervious Area Equivalent shall be calculated based on double the rooftop area to account for impervious areas on lots. If this calculation results in a value greater than the total property area, the total property area shall be used. For parking lots, the entire property area is used as impervious.

Billing

Residential Properties are billed every three months and become effective for the billing period following the first actual meter reading in Spring. Multi-residential and non-residential properties are billed bi-monthly and become effective after the May billing period.

The Stormwater Fees for Multi-Residential and Non-Residential Properties are based on the six tiers and are detailed in Chapter 461 of the City's Municipal Code.

Appeal

Chapter 461 of the City’s Municipal Code provides an appeal process for multi-residential and non-residential property owners who dispute the amount of the stormwater fee charge levied against their property. The appeal must be submitted in writing to the General Manager of Development Services and Engineering. The decision of the General Manager of Development Services and Engineering with respect to an Appeal shall be considered final and binding.

Stormwater Fee Credit Program

The City of Orillia offers a Stormwater Fee Credit Application available to multi-residential or non-residential properties.

Property owners must include a report from a Professional Engineer with their application. The report must show that the property's stormwater improvements meet the program requirements. A guide is available to help with the application process.

Properties that qualify can receive up to a 50% discount on their stormwater fees based on the program's evaluation criteria.

Category	Evaluation Criteria	Total Credit (50% Max)
Peak Flow Reduction	Percent reduction of the 100-year post-development flow to pre-development conditions of the site.	Up to 40%
Water Quality Treatment	Consistent with Provincial criteria for enhanced treatment.	Up to 10%
Runoff Volume Reduction	Percent Capture of first 15 mm of rainfall during a single rainfall event	Up to 15%
Pollution Prevention	Develop and implement a pollution prevention plan.	Up to 5%

Frequently Asked Questions

What did I pay last year?

The fee schedules for stormwater fees for residential, non-residential and multi-residential properties are updated annually; the updated fees take effect following the spring billing period. Non-residential and multi-residential properties may have an altered fee at any time if they are reclassified into a new tier. Properties which have changed status (e.g., are no longer classified as “vacant”) will have an applicable stormwater fee applied to the property.

Why is there a fee structure?

The fee structure is intended to charge stormwater fees more equitably across the City, so properties with a larger impact on stormwater discharge pay higher stormwater fees, and properties with lower impact on stormwater discharge pay lower stormwater fees.

Residential properties (three residential units or less on a single property) pay a flat fee.

How are the stormwater fees calculated?

The fees are calculated based on the estimated amount of impervious area (such as roof tops and parking lots) on a property. Impervious areas force stormwater into the City stormwater infrastructure. The estimate of impervious area is calculated based on twice the total rooftop area on the property.

What is stormwater?

Stormwater is the rain and melted snow that flows from your property, onto the streets and into the storm drains. Along the way, the stormwater picks up debris, chemicals and other pollutants from rooftops and paved surfaces that enter the storm drains and watercourses.

What is the Stormwater Fee?

The stormwater fee is a user fee that is used to help fund Orillia’s Stormwater Management program.

What is Stormwater Management?

The City provides stormwater management services to protect the community and environment from stormwater runoff. Stormwater runoff is water that flows off properties primarily due to rain and snow events. Hard surfaces like roofs, driveways, and parking lots increase the amount of runoff from each property. Stormwater management is the practice of controlling the quantity and quality of runoff to help prevent flooding to properties in the City and to help clean the water before discharging to lakes and channels.

What does the Stormwater Fee contribute to?

The stormwater fee is used to fund stormwater infrastructure maintenance and capital projects in Orillia.

Where does the stormwater currently go?

Stormwater from rain and snow melt naturally soaks into the ground through infiltration. Orillia is an urbanized community with houses, roads, parking lots and other hard surfaces, which prevents water from infiltrating into the ground. The disruption to the water cycle means that stormwater runs off to other areas and has to be collected by the City's storm infrastructure before discharging to natural water bodies, which can lead to flooding, and other environmentally damaging effects.

What is the difference between the stormwater fee and the water and wastewater fee?

The stormwater fee is a fee that is used to fund Orillia’s Stormwater Management program. The water and wastewater fees are used to fund the maintenance of water and wastewater infrastructure and separate from the stormwater infrastructure.

Stormwater from my property does not flow into the City storm drains, can I forgo paying the stormwater fee?

Properties that don’t directly use the City stormwater system have uncontrolled discharge to the local environment and waterways. The City needs to put in control measures in other areas to make up for these discharges, so they also need to contribute to the fees.