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Ontario Well Regulations in Plain Words: Reg. 903, Owner Responsibility, Licence Classes, Well Records, Plugging an Old Well and the Grants That Help Pay
Plumbing & Water
Ontario Well Rules: It Is Your Well, and That Is the Whole Point
In town, the water is the city’s problem until it reaches your meter. In the country, it is yours from the bottom of the hole to the tap. Ontario’s well rules, mostly Regulation 903 under the Ontario Water Resources Act, are built on that one idea: the owner is responsible for the well. Who may work on it, what paper has to exist, and when an old well must be plugged all follow from it. Here they are in plain words, with the grants that help pay for the expensive part.
The numbers
14 daysfor the contractor to give you a copy of the well record
30 daysto file the well record with the ministry
5well technician licence classes
$1,500 to $4,000to plug and seal an old well
| Well technician licence | Covers |
|---|---|
| Class 1 | drilling |
| Class 2 | digging and boring |
| Class 3 | other construction methods named on the licence, such as driving or jetting |
| Class 4 | pump installation |
| Class 5 | monitoring, sampling, testing and non-powered construction |
Technicians work under a licensed well contractor. You can find licensed well contractors on ontario.ca. A plumber’s Certificate of Qualification is a separate licence and does not cover well work.
Who May Work on Your Well
Anyone you pay to build, alter, repair or put a pump in a well needs the right well technician licence and works for a licensed well contractor. The driller who shows up with the rig has Class 1. The fellow who comes to swap the pump needs Class 4. A handy neighbour who does it for cash has neither, and the rules apply to him the moment you pay him.
The landowner exemption is the exception. You can work on a well on your own property without a licence, and so can unpaid helpers, but the construction standards still apply to your work exactly as they would to a contractor’s. That covers changing your own pump. It does not cover climbing into a dug well or a well pit, which nobody should do: gases and low oxygen collect in them and kill people every year.
On our own builds the wells are drilled by licensed well contractors we hire. I am a builder, not a well contractor.
Well Records: The Paper That Follows the Hole
A well record is usually required when a well is built, altered or repaired, except minor alterations or pump installation, and when one is abandoned. The contractor gives the owner a copy within 14 days and files it with the ministry within 30 days. Keep yours with the house deed. It is the best description of your well that will ever exist.
Ontario puts the records on a well records map. Search by address and click a well to open its record. Before you buy a rural lot or drill, look at the wells around you; the checking for water on a lot page shows how that helps, and the well drilling cost page turns the depth into dollars. If your own record is missing, it can be requested from the ministry.
The Duty to Plug and Seal
This is the rule that surprises people. The owner must immediately abandon, which means plug and seal, a well that:
- is not in use and is not being maintained for future use;
- gives water that is not potable;
- contains gas;
- lets water move between underground formations.
An open old well is a straight pipe from the surface to the water everyone on the road drinks. It is also a hole a child or a dog can fall into. The landowner or a member of the household may do the plugging without a licence, but must follow Reg. 903 and file a well record within 30 days. Ontario recommends a licensed contractor because the work is dangerous, and that is good advice.
A Canadian cost guide puts plugging and sealing at $1,500 to $4,000. That is the only published figure we found, so treat it as a guide and get the job quoted. Depth, diameter, what is down the hole and how hard it is to get a truck to it drive the price.
The Grants for Plugging an Old Well
Several conservation authorities help pay to plug and seal an unused well. Every one of them has its own rules, and some want you to apply before the work. These are the programs we found in October 2026; check yours before you book.
| Conservation authority | Grant | On a $3,000 job, if you qualify | You pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nottawasaga Valley | 75% up to $1,000 | 75% is $2,250, capped at $1,000 | $2,000 |
| Lake Simcoe Region | 50% up to $1,500 | 50% is $1,500 | $1,500 |
| Credit Valley | 50% up to $1,500 | 50% is $1,500 | $1,500 |
| Halton | 50% up to $1,000 | 50% is $1,500, capped at $1,000 | $2,000 |
| Niagara | up to $2,000 a well | up to $2,000 | from $1,000 |
The $3,000 job is the middle of the cost guide range, before HST. The grant is not money in your pocket until it is approved; show it as “if you qualify” in your own budget too. Much of Simcoe County is in the Nottawasaga Valley or Lake Simcoe watersheds, and some of it is in neither; your municipality can tell you which, if any.
Why Ontario prices are all over the map: for plugging a well we found exactly one published range, $1,500 to $4,000 from a Canadian cost guide, so there is no spread to show you, only a warning that one source is not a market. For drilling the replacement, the sources we checked ranged from $45 to $120 a foot, and the driller we use around Georgian Bay charges $15,000 for any well up to 75 ft (pump not included). Depth, diameter, access and what is down the old hole drive both. Budget $3,000 to plug an old well, and get two or three quotes on the same written scope.
Buying a Property With an Old Well, and the Other Rules
Ask the seller for the well record for every well on the property, including the one under the old pump house that nobody uses. Look the property up on the well records map too. Then ask the plain question: is there any well here that is not in use? If there is, and nobody is maintaining it for future use, plugging and sealing it becomes your duty once you own it, and that is a cost to negotiate before you sign, not after.
Make the offer conditional on a water test and a well inspection. Old dug wells and sand points are covered on the drilled vs dug vs sand point page, and if the house is on septic as well, the buying a house with a septic system page covers the other half of the rural package.
And the other rules worth knowing before you sign:
- No Permit to Take Water for a house. Household use is exempt below 379,000 litres a day. A house never gets near that.
- Keep the septic clear. The septic tank sits 15 m from a well; the leaching bed 15 m from a well with a watertight casing to at least 6 m depth, 30 m from any other well, and 15 m from a lake or stream. The septic side is covered on SepticReplacement.ca.
- Test it yourself. The province’s advice is at least three times a year, including spring and fall. The free bacteria test is on the well water testing page.
- Lake intakes have their own rules, under the shore lands work permit conditions and the conservation authority.
Questions people ask
Who is responsible for a private well in Ontario?
The owner. Ontario puts it plainly: if you have a well on your property, you are responsible for it, including keeping surface water and contamination out of it and plugging and sealing it when it is no longer in use or no longer safe.
Can I work on my own well without a licence?
Yes, on your own property, under the landowner exemption, and unpaid helpers can help. The construction standards still apply. Anyone you pay needs a well technician licence and works under a licensed well contractor.
Do I have to plug an old well on my property?
Yes, if it is not in use and not maintained for future use, gives non-potable water, contains gas or lets water move between formations. You may do it yourself, following Reg. 903 and filing a well record within 30 days, but Ontario recommends a licensed contractor.
How do I find the well record for my property?
Search Ontario’s well records map by address and click the well. If it is not there, a missing record can be requested from the ministry.
Are there grants to plug an old well?
Several conservation authorities offer them: Nottawasaga Valley 75% up to $1,000, Lake Simcoe Region 50% up to $1,500, Niagara up to $2,000 a well, Halton 50% up to $1,000, Credit Valley 50% up to $1,500. Check yours before you book.
Price the well, the pump and the treatment
The rural water system cost calculator puts a replacement well, the pump and tank, the trench, the water test and the treatment on one sheet with low, middle and high totals. If you have quotes to drill a new well or plug an old one, the $99 review reads up to three of them.
Sources and further reading
- Ontario well records: the well records map and data: search by address and open the records of the wells around you.
- Well abandonment: when to plug and seal a well: the owner duty to plug and seal an unused or unsafe well, and the record that has to be filed.
- Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority: well decommissioning: the grant toward plugging and sealing an unused well.
