How do I pay my Water Utilities and Garbage Collection bills online to the "City of Toronto"?

Question

Recently I moved into a townhouse and I received my first water and garbage Utilities bill in the mail. In the past, I used to rent an apartment and I never had to worry about the water or garbage collection bills. I know I could go to a bank and make my payment there but I want to be able to pay my Utilities bills in the comfort of my home. Why should I need to line up in the bank just to make a payment.

Does anyone know if the water and garbage collection bills comes every month? Will I be able to sign up for an online bill instead of a physical mail bill? I am lazy when it comes to having to file for the paid bills. I usually like to receive electronic bills, pay it off and forget about having to store or file the bills.

Answer 1

In Toronto, Ontario, If you use less than 6,000 cubic metres or 6 million of litres of water per year, then you will be billed every four months or three times a year. But if you use more than 6,000 cubic metres or 6 million of litres of water per year then you will be billed monthly. Usually most residential people falls on the first category and so most people are billed every four months or three times a year. The garbage and waste collection cycle coincides with the water billing as well and appears on the same sheet of billing. Very often, you get a discount of about $15 or $20 if you pay your bills on time or before the required date.

In order to lookup your Utility account for your water and garbage waste collection details, you can enter your information here at "Toronto Water Utility and Garbage Waste Collection Lookup". When you received your first bill by physical mail, on the top right corner you will see your account number, client number. You will need these information to access the lookup option for your utility account. You will enter your Account number, Client Number, Last name, postal code, and your last method of payment. 

If you want to sign up for e billing, so you won't have to receive your bill by physical mail, you can do so here at "Toronto Property Tax and Utility E-Billing". You will actually need to have signed up for Epost account already or you can access Epost account through your financial bank online account.

Once you know how much you have to pay the City of Toronto, you will pay them through your bank online account such as TD Bank, BMO bank, RBC bank, CIBC bank, Scotia bank, just to name a few. Log in to your bank account online and cick on "Pay bills". Then look for " Add Payee". Type in "Toronto (City Of) Utility Bill" for Canadian Payee. For account number, type in your "Toronto Utility Bill account number and client number combined together". That is all you need to add the payee into your bank account for future payments as well.

To make a payment now, you will click on "Pay bills", "Select Payee" as "Toronto (City Of) Utility Bill", the Amount to pay, and from which bank account to use.

Please be advised that your payment will not immediately reflect on your Toronto Utility account lookup details. It will be several business days before the payment amount will be shown and reflected in the online utility account lookup. So don't panic and start calling the city about why the payment hasn't gone through. Be sure to enter the correct account and client information as shown in your first physical paper mail utility bill.

Answer 2

If you look closely at your Toronto Utilities bill, you will see that there is one option provided by the city in regards to payment amount. It says that if you pay the bill by such and such date, you get a discount of such and such amount called an early discount. But if you decided to make payment after the specified discount date, then you would pay the actual regular price. I usually like to pay early so I could get a discounted price to pay, I mean we have to eventually pay the bills anyhow, sooner or later. So, why not pay them sooner?

Answer 3

Watch video on "How garbage collection is done in Toronto for residents of the city of Toronto" :

Answer 4

I am moving to a condo in Etobicoke and I have to pay for water.  How do I register to receive the bill.  My postal code will be M9B 0C3

Answer 5

To Anne Rudder:

When you mentioned that you are moving to a condo unit located in Etobicoke, I assume that you bought the condo unit and you will become the owner of the condo unit. But even if you are a tenant in that new condo unit located in Etobicoke, the process of registering for water bill is similar for all residents of Toronto.

IF YOU ARE THE NEW CONDO UNIT OWNER:

1. Call 311 - Ask for Utility Inquiry Line (Water bills)
{8:30am to 4:30pm}

 OR

Email: utilitybill@toronto.ca

OR

Write a letter mail to:

City of Toronto
Revenue Services, General Correspondence
5100 Yonge St.,
Toronto, ON M2N 5V7

2. Let the customer service representative know that you will be the new owner of the condo unit. Before you call, have some information ready such as your property address, the closing date of your property, your telephone number. You will most probably get a new utility account number when they send the first bill in the letter mail.

Thereafter, if you want, you can register for online billing through epost.ca .

3. You will have to pay an ownership change fees to the city of Toronto. REMEMBER to setup your property tax and garbage bill account together with your water bill. It is a cheaper fee to setup both property tax and water bill together. If you setup water bill and property tax separately, they will charge you two fees for both each.

You do not need to register for garbage collection account because you will live in a condo unit and the condo management are responsible for that garbage fee. This fee is usually included in the monthly maintenance fee charged by the condo corporation. Only people living in townhouse, semi detached, or detached houses have to pay for garbage collection on their own.

IF YOU ARE A TENANT IN THE NEW CONDO UNIT:

1. If your landlord wants you to pay for the water bill, then your landlord will mention it on your tenant agreement. In that case, the landlord will register you with the city of Toronto utility department, as a tenant to receive and pay for the water bills.

2. Sometimes the landlord includes the water utility bills charges in their monthly rent amount and they do not charge you water bill directly. If such is the case, then you do not have to worry about registering for water bills.