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Update for 2025 

For the purposes of calculation and conversion, 1m³ equals 220 imperial gallons.

Water – Quarterly Rates

Sewer – Quarterly Rates

Infrastructure Levy – Quarterly Rates

Utility Billing

Utility billing is done quarterly. Bills are mailed out within the first week of January, April, July and October. If you have not received your bill by the middle of the month, please contact City Hall for your account balance and to verify that your mailing address is correct. If your utility bill is higher than normal, we strongly recommend you check your home for leaks. For information on how leaks can affect your utility bill, click here.

Utility E-Billing

You have the option to receive your utility bill by email. This helps save paper and also gets your bill to you up to a week sooner than bills sent out by regular mail. Click on the document below for the e-billing application form and for more information about the e-billing process. Completed applications can be dropped off at City Hall or emailed to the City. 

E-Billing Application

Paying Utility Bills Online

If you are using the on-line banking services of your financial institution, you may want to use it to pay your City utility and tax accounts. We are currently set up to take payments from CIBC, Credit Union and the Royal Bank.

With our utility billing format, you now have a 13 digit account number. Please use the middle 7 digit number to set up your account (this will be the same account number you had before the new billing system). If your financial institution requires you to enter a 9 digit account number, please add LEADING zeros. Adding zeros at the end could result in a valid utility account for another customer. For example, if you account number was 005-1234567-000, you would enter this as 001234567. 

For detailed instructions on setting up your property tax account for online payments, please view this document. 

Other Payment Methods 

Accounts can also be paid through cheque, in person at City Hall, or by interac e-transfer. More information about these payment options is available in this document.

Please Note if you are paying any account by e-transfer it is your responsibility to ensure we have enough information to correctly assign your payment. If you need to send additional instructions for your payment, please do so by emailing payments@meadowlake.ca.

Why is my Utility Bill Increasing Each Year?

Prior to 2016, the City’s water rates were used to recover the costs of water production, treatment and sewage collection. Rates did not include the costs of delivering water to residents (known as the distribution system) and they did not reflect any capital investments. This means that water rates were artificially low and were being subsidized by property taxes for a number of years. This also resulted in added pressure on the City’s overall budget as our distribution system was, and still is, aging; resulting in an increased need for funds for repairs and rehabilitation.

In 2015, Council began a rate restructuring process on the City's utility bills to move towards a system of cost recovery and to charge for full consumption (users pay for the water they actually use). Council's direction, at the time, was annual increases continue to be made to the utility rates until utilities were completely self-funded, rather than being subsidized through property tax dollars.

In 2019, the City entered into a potable water supply agreement and asset purchase agreement with SaskWater. This agreement provided a variety of advantages to the City by lowering liabilities and operational deficiencies. The agreement resulted in the City no longer owning the water treatment plant and only being responsible for the City’s distribution system. This means that City now purchases water from SaskWater and recoups the cost for the water purchased quarterly, through the billing process.

Although the City entered into the agreement, the goal of self-funded utilities remains the same.

The timeline for the goal of self-funded utilities took a hit in 2021 as Council paused bill increases for 2022 due to the pandemic. This decision was made to acknowledge the financial hardship faced by many within the community. Council directed that cost recovery continue to be a goal for the utility function and resumed the cost recovery plan with the 2023 increases approved in 2022.

Since 1980, the City has supplied potable water to Flying Dust First Nation through an established agreement. Flying Dust First Nation makes up approximately 10% of water usage. Initially, the City’s goal was to have utilities self-funded by 2026; it is now estimated to be at recovery by 2027 as the Flying Dust First Nations is building their Water Plant and is expected to be operational as of January 1, 2026. This result in loss of revenues will affect the cost recovery period.

Did the City Consult with Residents Prior to Signing the Agreement? 

The City ensured that lines of communication were open to residents through various means. An online survey was conducted through the Meadow Lake website to gather input from residents. The City also held an open house where residents were provided a presentation on the agreement with a question and answer period. Prior to the open house, a notice was mailed out to all residents advising them of the public hearing. Once the agreement was signed, SaskWater’s communication team was involved in the public communication process about the transfer logistics.

Why did the City Sell the Water Treatment Plant to SaskWater? 

The decision to enter an agreement with SaskWater was undertaken after thorough review and consideration. Council did not believe continued ownership and control of the water assets outweighed the benefits of selling the water treatment plant.  As this was a large scale change for the Municipality, it was a decision that Council felt was best made with the input of the community. In the end, Council decided to enter into the sale agreement, with some notable advantages listed below:

• SaskWater provides dedicated expertise for any water quality issues that may arise.
• SaskWater provides operations and maintenance of the sewage system and certified oversight of the distribution system.
• Water Plant staff worked an extensive and unsustainable amount of overtime. The implementation of SaskWater’s remote access monitoring system significantly reduced the amount of overtime required and the resulting concern of staff burnout.
• The water treatment plant is a Class IV plant, which requires a Class IV operator to legally operate. There are very few Class IV operators in the province, with the majority working for SaskWater. As noted in a 2019 request for decision to Council, the increase in water regulations has made class II, III and IV plants harder for smaller communities to operate independently as they require greater resources and skilled staff.
• By entering into an agreement, the City no longer holds responsibility of capital costs to maintain the water treatment plant or for any regulatory compliance upgrades, both of which involve significant expense.
• SaskWater engineers are experienced in the design and treatment of challenging water sources.
• Remote monitoring of facilities performed by live operators in the SaskWater control center in Regina. This is done 24 hours a day each day of the year.
• Trained relief operators available to cover holidays, sick occurrences and vacancies by SaskWater.

What Does This Mean Going Forward? 

The timeline for the goal of self-funded utilities has had its share of delays and is currently set to be realized in 2027. Inevitably, residents may see rate increases due to inflationary pressures affecting operational costs. Otherwise, the goal is to see a stabilized rate system with minimum increases from 2027.