Halton Region names Burlington a 2027 focus for basement-flooding outreach in a memo to Regional Council

What the memo says

Halton Region's Commissioner of Public Works, Lee Anne Jones, has sent Regional Council an interim update on outreach under the Region's Basement Flooding Mitigation Program. The memo, dated November 4, 2026, is listed under Memoranda and Correspondence on the agenda for Regional Council meeting 08-26 on Wednesday, November 4 at 9:30 a.m., in Council Chambers at the Halton Regional Centre, 1151 Bronte Road, Oakville, and online. It reports on work to date and makes no recommendation for Council to vote on.

The memo says staff will continue targeted field investigations and homeowner outreach within the Region's priority areas, "with a focus on Burlington and Milton in 2027." Staff are also developing a homeowner survey for 2027 to better understand potential barriers to taking part in the subsidy program, and will give Council a full update on the program in March 2027.

Where Burlington comes in

Beyond the 2027 focus, Burlington appears in the memo twice. One of the Region's two community information sessions was held in Burlington, in Priority Area 3, and the other in Georgetown. Combined attendance was nine households, less than one per cent of invited homeowners, although eight attendees registered for a drainage survey. The memo says the results suggest homeowners are more responsive to direct, property-specific engagement, so future outreach will focus on direct contact rather than information sessions.

Field investigations so far have covered 106 km of wastewater main and 5,800 properties in Burlington, Georgetown and Oakville, the memo says, and found 824 properties with evidence of inflow and infiltration that have been prioritized for targeted outreach. The memo gives no figures for Burlington alone and does not say which streets are in Priority Area 3.

Drainage surveys and subsidies

A Household Drainage Survey is an in-home assessment of how water drains around a property and the condition of its wastewater pipes. The Region's flood preparedness page says a home may qualify if it meets all three of these conditions: it was built between the mid 1950s and the late 1970s; it has a previously reported history of basement flooding due to a wastewater surcharge; and it is in a Region-defined priority area. To check whether an address is in a priority area, confirm eligibility or request a survey, the Region asks homeowners to email hhds@halton.ca or call 311.

Homes that do not qualify for a survey need a plumbing or drainage assessment from a licensed plumber to complete subsidy-eligible work, and the Region says that cost can be claimed as part of the eligible project costs within the existing rebate limits. Each subsidy page says the home must be in Halton Region and connected to the Region's wastewater system, and the application must be submitted within one year after the work is completed.