The Eastern Ontario Regional Network (EORN), 2B Developments, the Frontenac Municipal Services Corporation (FMSC), and the Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus (EOWC) announced that they have received $1 million in Stage 1 funding from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s (CMHC) Housing Supply Challenge. This money will help create municipal services corporations to manage water and wastewater in rural and small towns.
Communal servicing allows groups of homes and businesses to share local water and wastewater treatment facilities. This method is a cost-effective and practical alternative to the traditional rural method of large lots with individual wells and septic systems, as well as to the expensive centralized water and sewer systems used in cities.
For rural and small towns, communal servicing offers many benefits, including lower costs and fewer regulatory hurdles for developers. It also opens up opportunities for economic growth through the construction of mixed-use developments, which include residential, public, and commercial spaces. This approach helps build the tax base for rural areas while protecting the environment more effectively than individual well and septic systems.
Additionally, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed between the FMSC and EORN. They, along with 2B Developments, will collaborate to learn from FMSC’s experience in setting up a municipal services corporation and share this knowledge with other municipalities.
Written by Emily Chatwood