The Drainage Act gives Mutual Agreement Drains formal status, and registration makes the agreement binding on future owners of the land. Agreements should be made each time a main drain leaves an owner's property and should be registered in the appropriate registry office. Enforcement of the Agreement must be made through court action. The Drainage Act provides a democratic procedure for the construction, improvement and maintenance of drainage works. The following abbreviated statements give the order of procedure for petition drains.
Numbers following the abbreviated statements refer to the appropriate section of The Drainage Act.
For complete and accurate reference, see the current Statutes of Ontario available at most local libraries. Owner presents signed petition to council. Council considers the petition and within 30 days, sends copies of its decision to the petitioners. If the Council decides not to accept the petition, any petitioner can appeal the decision to the Tribunal. An appeal to the Tribunal concerning any section of this Act is implemented by notifying, in writing, the clerk of the initiating municipality.