Emergencies declared by Ontario municipalities

Municipalities with states of emergency

The Province of Ontario enacted a state of emergency March 17 and updated it on March 28 with new restrictions. On March 30 the period was extended for 14 days and then on April 14 for an additional 28 days. On April 23, the province announced all emergency orders put in place under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act will remain in effect until at least May 6, including the closure of all non-essential businesses and services. Updates here.

As of April 24, 2020, the following Ontario communities or municipalities have also declared local states of emergency or enacted emergency measures due to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic:

Amherstburg
Arran-Elderslie
Atikameksheng Anishnawbek First Nation (borders closed)
Atikokan
Barrie
Bayham
Billings Twp, Manitoulin Is.
Bonfield
Bradford West Gwillimbury
Brampton
Brant Cty
Brantford
Brock Twp
Brockton
Bruce Cty
Burlington
Cambridge
Carlow/Mayo Twp
Central Elgin
Central Frontenac
Centre Wellington
Chatham-Kent
Clarington
Cobourg
Cornwall
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April 23, 2020

Webinar: Exiting One Crisis and Mitigating Another Potential Crisis

Exiting One Crisis and Mitigating Another Potential Crisis

You are invited to attend a free webinar, hosted by the Ontario Municipal Water Association (OMWA)

WHEN: Friday, May 1, 2020 – 11:00 a.m.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND: This free webinar is intended to raise the awareness of municipalities/utilities who have large commercial buildings and industries within their municipal boundaries. As large buildings have been shut down or used less frequently, building water quality degradation becomes a silent but serious issue.

This webinar is free to all. Please register in advance for this webinar via the link below:

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_GEu4AtYsRnKY-A1nllcjIw

Once you have registered you will receive a confirmation email within 12 hours containing instructions for how to join the webinar.

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April 20, 2020April 20, 2020

Webinar: Benefitting Your Organization Through a Utilities Helping Utilities Program

Benefitting Your Organization Through a Utilities Helping Utilities Program – OnWARN

You are invited to attend a free webinar, hosted by the Ontario Municipal Water Association (OMWA).

WHEN: Thursday, April 23, 2020 – 2:00 PM,
WHO SHOULD ATTEND: This webinar is intended for all municipalities/utilities, and both members and non-members of OnWARN.

To register in advance for this free webinar, click here.

Once you have registered you will receive a confirmation email with instructions for how to join the webinar.

Description

As municipalities and businesses grapple with the long-term implications of COVID-19 in Ontario and around the globe, the OMWA looks to identify tools and opportunities for municipalities to prepare and respond to emergencies affecting their water and wastewater systems.

The Ontario Water/Wastewater Agency Response Network (OnWARN) is a Mutual Aid and Assistance program for municipalities and municipally-owned water and wastewater utilities. This utilities-helping-utilities program is a” tool in the municipal toolbox” for dealing with circumstances beyond the normal control of the utility, including emergencies and severe incidents.

Andrew Henry, Vice-Chair of the OnWARN program, will provide the webinar attendees with an outline of the OnWARN program and how it works, along with information on how municipalities and municipally-owned utilities can leverage the program in their planning and emergency management programs.

Andrew will also discuss Ontario’s emergency management system called the IMS Ontario Doctrine (Incident Management System) and the Canadian Standards Association Emergency Management and Business Continuity Planning Standard (CSA Z1600) in the context of its usefulness for municipal water & wastewater utilities. Andrew will provide helpful information on useful on-line training resources relating to Incident Management Systems and Emergency Planning.

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Webinar Host – Michael Mortimer (President, OMWA)

Webinar Speaker – Andrew J. Henry, Director, Regional Water Supply Lake Huron & Elgin Area Primary Water Supply Systems. To read Andrew’s full bio, click here.

April 10, 2020April 11, 2020

OMWA Interactive Webinar – Slide deck and audio

You can download a PDF of the slide deck from OMWA’s most recent online webinar by clicking here.
For an audio recording of the webinar, click here.

April 7, 2020April 7, 2020

Online discussion: Successful Continuity of Water & Wastewater Services During the COVID-19 Emergency

The Ontario Municipal Water Association (OMWA) and the Water & Wastewater Regulatory Compliance Group (WWRCG) are once again collaborating to deliver a free fully-interactive event to discuss: “Positioning Your Organization for Successful Continuity of Water & Wastewater Services During the COVID-19 Emergency.”

This one-hour, online event is scheduled for 11:00 a.m., Thursday, April 9, 2020.

The event will feature a fully interactive “discussion room” format and the number of participants will be limited and limited to one registration per municipalities/utilities.

The OMWA and WWRCG have developed an online questionnaire consisting of several questions on various COVID-19 water & wastewater related operational issues that each association has identified based on input from our respective members.

After you register, you will receive a registration confirmation email within 8 hours and a link to the online questionnaire that will be the foundation for the event discussions. We would suggest that each municipality/utility coordinate their registration and their response. Participants will be expected to complete the Poll questionnaire by 4:00 p.m. Wednesday, April 8^th. The data from the completed questionnaire will then be compiled and presented on Thursday at 11:00 by our moderators, OMWA President Mike Mortimer, Justyna Burkiewicz from WWRCG and Laura Smit, OMWA Board Director.

Our registrants will then be welcome to discuss results, ask follow-up questions, provide further clarification or to voice their thoughts and opinions during the event to the benefit of all participants.

Once again, participation in this free fully interactive “discussion room” is limited, so register as soon as possible. Please register as a municipality/utility and be sure to submit your answers and feel free to ask any other specific questions you may have before Wednesday, April 8 at 4:00 p.m.

To register in advance for this webinar, click here.

Webinar Moderators:

Michael Mortimer (President, OMWA)
Justyna Burkiewicz (Member of WWRCG), (Manager, Water & Wastewater Regulatory Compliance, Peel Region)
Laura Smit, (Board Member, OMWA), (Board Member, WCWC), ( Superintendent of Water Treatment and Supply, City of Orillia)

This one-hour event will feature a fully interactive “discussion room” format and the number of participants will be limited and limited to one registration per municipality/utility.

Disclaimer: Registrants acknowledge that this webinar may be recorded and may be shared online with participants and non-participants. Participant comments or questions my be included in the recording.

April 3, 2020

Webinar cancelled

The OMWA and The Water & Wastewater Regulatory Compliance Group regret to inform you that late yesterday afternoon we were advised by a representative of the Ministry of Environment, Conservation & Parks (MECP) that they were unable to present today at the scheduled 11:00 a.m. webinar.

We will continue collaborating with MECP and we remain hopeful that we will be able to reschedule and provide all Ontario’s water & wastewater professionals a comprehensive understanding of the regulatory processes during the COVID-19 emergency.

April 1, 2020

Free webinar: Understanding changes to MECP processes during the COVID-19 emergency

The Ontario Municipal Water Association (OMWA) and the Water & Wastewater Regulatory Compliance Group (WWRCG) are collaborating to deliver a free webinar “Understanding changes to MECP processes during the COVID-19 emergency” to help municipal water, wastewater, and stormwater operations understand and navigate through changes to MECP approvals and regulatory relief processes during the coronavirus emergency.

Join co-hosts Mr. Mike Mortimer, OMWA President, and Ms. Justyna Burkiewicz from WWWRCG, and guest speaker Mr. Aziz Ahmed, Manager, Municipal Water and Wastewater Permissions Section of MECP, for this free, one- hour interactive webinar scheduled for 11:00 a.m., April 3, 2020. Aziz will help answer your questions and provide guidance to municipalities and utilities during the coronavirus emergency to continue with the operational functions and to maintain compliance. Please note that Assistant Deputy Minister & Chief Drinking Water Inspector, Melissa Thomson and other MECP staff have been invited to also present and we are presently awaiting their confirmation.

This free webinar is open to everyone. Please be sure to submit your specific questions for our speakers on your registration form before Thursday April 2 at 12:00 p.m.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

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