10-year Water & Wastewater Services valued at $447 million

The Ontario Clean Water Agency (OCWA) will continue its partnership with the Region of Peel to operate, maintain, and manage the South Peel Water and Wastewater Treatment System under a new contract valued at $447 million. The 10-year agreement with a 5-year extension option, reflects OCWA's experience, value, and position as trusted provider of water and wastewater services in Ontario.

Contract highlights include enhanced service delivery, an expanded and versatile asset management program, and OCWA's compliance systems which support environmental integrity, process and energy efficiencies, occupational health and safety, and client confidence.

The new agreement addresses the massive infrastructure expansions and upgrades that the South Peel system has undergone since the last contract was signed in 1999. It also realigns OCWA's staffing structure to meet the Region's evolving needs, and support the system's capital works program.

"We are extremely pleased that the Region has chosen to continue to place their trust in OCWA" said OCWA interim President & CEO, Robin Kind. "We appreciated the process of open communication and mutual respect as our organizations worked together to build this new agreement that we believe offers excellent value to the Region of Peel."

In 2007, the Region of Peel began an extensive review of future operations and maintenance options for the South Peel system. Evaluation criteria were built from industry measures and best practices identified by EMA Canada through more than 450 evaluations of water and wastewater operations across North America. As noted in the Recommendation Document 97P-075, the internal review "indicated that OCWA's current performance in South Peel is among the top five percent in North America and that the Region is currently receiving a very high level of service."

A long-term contract with OCWA was deemed to provide the best value to the Region. Key benefits identified OCWA's history of sound operational performance, effective management, and availability of essential services.

OCWA will continue to provide water and wastewater treatment services to Peel's growing population of about 1.2 million over a geographic area of 1225 square kilometres, making the contract one of the largest of its kind in North America.  For more information, see Background Information on the OCWA-Peel Partnership.

About OCWA

The Ontario Clean Water Agency (OCWA) provides environmentally responsible and cost-effective water and wastewater services to municipalities, institutions, industry and First Nations. Established as a provincial crown agency in 1993, OCWA operations, engineering, and technical services provide clean water expertise to businesses and communities all across Ontario.