Municipal Drainage
Burnside’s Municipal Drainage team consists of a leading group of experts with decades of combined experience completing engineering and superintendent services under Ontario’s Drainage Act.
Capabilities and Expertise
What is Ontario’s Drainage Act? It is provincial legislation that:
- Allows property owners and road authorities to petition their municipality for solutions to drainage problems with project costs assessed to lands and roads within the watershed.
- Requires drains to be designed by a professional engineer and demands an extensive knowledge of the unique requirements of the Act.
- Assigns the municipality, through their drainage superintendent, the responsibility for the ongoing management of drainage systems constructed under the Act.
We pride ourselves on providing drain construction (S.4 under the Act) and improvement (S.78) solutions that are legally compliant, technically proficient, and environmentally and socially responsible. This is accomplished through our integrated in-house expertise for a wide variety of project applications.
Furthermore, we provide drainage superintendent services to over 15 municipalities, and have over 10 staff who meet the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) qualifications to serve as municipal drainage superintendent, a role that is responsible for the maintenance, repair, and overall management of drainage systems constructed under the Act. These individuals must be familiar with their legislative responsibilities and must be able to communicate effectively with their clientele.
Our Team
Our team – led by Jeremy Taylor – would be happy to discuss your project needs in more detail.
Our Projects
Key drainage projects completed by our team include:
- Blyth Creek Municipal Drain
- Charters Municipal Drain
- South Innisfil Creek Drain
- McNain Municipal Drain
- Authoring of engineer’s reports authorized under the Act, including drain design, cost estimating and calculation of assessments and allowances
- Hydrologic and hydraulic modelling, including drain crossing design
- Rural and urban stormwater management design
- Ecology and wetland evaluations
- Bridge and culvert assessment and design
- Excellent working relationships with regulatory agencies
- Extensive Indigenous consultation experience
- Advanced surveying and remote sensing technologies
- Camera investigations of existing drainage systems
- Contract administration and construction supervision services
- Monitoring and reporting
- Extensive knowledge of the OMAFRA grant program requirements, including assisting municipalities in applying for grants under the Transfer Payment Ontario system (S.85)
- Updating property assessments resulting from severances and land use changes (S.65)
- New assessment schedules for existing drains (S.76)
- Guidance on the abandonment of existing drains (S.84)
- Training and advisory services for municipal council and staff
- Facilitating public meetings on drainage issues
- An active role in the provincial leadership of the Drainage Superintendents Association of Ontario and the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers – Land Drainage Committee
Jeremy Taylor, P.Eng.
Service Contact
We encourage you to contact us if you have any questions or require assistance.