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ARTICLE · 05 FEBRUARY 2025

User Pay Model To Allow For Cost Recovery Of Wastewater Services

Cox & Palmer
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Facing daunting capital and operational challenges, Cape Breton Regional Municipality (CBRM) has amended its wastewater discharge bylaw to allow for cost recovery of wastewater...

CanadaEnvironment
Kevin Latimer
Kevin Latimer
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Facing daunting capital and operational challenges, Cape Breton Regional Municipality (CBRM) has amended its wastewater discharge bylaw to allow for cost recovery of wastewater services through a user pay model. The munici­pality sees this as the first step in a larger transformation.

Like many Canadian municipalities, CBRM had aging wastewater infra­structure and faces more stringent, but necessary, federal regulations for discharging wastewater. The municipality has also been challenged by a declining population as its historic coal mining and steel industries have disappeared. This declining population left fewer taxpayers to fund increasing costs.

"Since COVID, we've stemmed the population decline," CBRM Mayor Amanda McDougall-Merrill said. "More Cape Bretoners have come home, Baby Boomers are retiring here, and we're attracting more immigrants – many of whom were attracted to Cape Breton University and who decided to stay in Cape Breton after graduation."

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