Division resources

Ministry of Environment

Amendments to the Municipal Sewage Regulation

The Ministry of Environment intends to review and revise the Municipal Sewage Regulation (MSR) of the Environmental Management Act (EMA).  The review process follows the ministry policy of continuous improvement and commitment to review our regulations on a regular basis and to update them as appropriate.

The Municipal Sewage Regulation was developed by the ministry to provide clear and effective requirements for local governments and private sewage dischargers in order to protect public health and the environment. Compliance with the regulation provides authorization for the treatment, reuse and discharge of domestic sewage, wastewater or municipal liquid waste.

The Municipal Sewage Regulation applies to all discharges of domestic sewage except those regulated under the Sewerage System Regulation (under the Health Act) and those discharges from individual single-family or duplex dwellings. The Sewerage System Regulation generally applies to smaller domestic sewer systems (for more information about this regulation, see Overview of the Sewerage System Regulation.

The ministry is revising the current regulation in three stages.

  • The first stage focuses on reclaimed water and registration requirements, as well as additional housekeeping amendments to the regulation.
  • The second stage will address discharges to ground and water, and harmonizing the regulation with the Municipal Waste Water Effluent Strategy of the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME).
  • The third stage will consider design, commissioning, management, operations, environmental impact studies and security. This stage will also address implementation and compliance strategies.

The intentions paper and response form for the first stage of amendments were posted in December 2009. Comments were solicited for a period of 60 days. The intentions paper, response form and a summary of the comments received are available here:

For information on the consultation process, see the Consultation Information for Codes of Practice and Regulations site.

For general information on the development of codes of practice and the review of current regulations, see the Environmental Management Act (EMA) Codes of Practice and Regulatory Review site.


UPDATED: February 2012