Markham Water Restrictions 2026
Published: May 6, 2026
York Region (Regional Municipality of York) · Ontario
Restrictions Active - Year-Round Mandatory Odd/Even Bylaw
4
Days/Week
Sprinklers: 6:00 PM – 11:00 PM
Allowed Hours
$360 minimum
Fine
Current restrictions
Markham operates a year-round mandatory odd/even outdoor watering bylaw — every day of the year, including outside the traditional summer irrigation season. Even-numbered house addresses water on even-numbered calendar dates; odd-numbered addresses water on odd-numbered dates. Sprinkler use is permitted in the evening window (typically 6:00 PM – 11:00 PM); hand watering with a shut-off nozzle and drip irrigation are permitted outside the schedule. The bylaw applies every day, not seasonally — a key difference from drought-stage cities.
What is still allowed
💧 Hand watering
Hand watering with a watering can or hand-held hose fitted with an automatic shut-off nozzle is permitted any day, any time. Vegetable gardens, container plants, and newly planted trees and shrubs may be hand watered outside the assigned-day schedule.
🌿 Drip irrigation & soaker hoses
Permitted any time. Drip is exempt from sprinkler hour windows.
🥬 Vegetable gardens
Watering vegetable gardens by hand or drip is permitted at any time, even during the strictest stages.
🪣 Rain barrels
Rainwater collected on your own property is unrestricted and may be used at any time for any purpose.
Fines & enforcement
$360 minimum
Markham's outdoor watering bylaw provides for fines starting at $360 for first-offence off-schedule watering, escalating with repeat offences. Bylaw enforcement officers patrol residential neighbourhoods through the irrigation-demand season and respond to complaints submitted via the City of Markham's customer service line. Tickets are issued under Markham's set-fine bylaw; payment options follow standard Ontario provincial offences procedures.
Effective: Year-round (every day, no seasonal start)🏠 HOA / condo rules
Ontario condominium corporations cannot impose landscape rules that conflict with municipal bylaws. Under the Ontario Condominium Act 1998, a condo bylaw requiring lawn watering outside Markham's odd/even schedule is unenforceable. Keep a copy of the City of Markham bylaw and any ticket evidence to share with your condo board if you receive a violation notice for a brown lawn.
Why these restrictions exist in Markham
Markham's outdoor watering bylaw is a year-round mandatory odd/even schedule — not a drought response. The rule applies every day of the year, regardless of rainfall, snowpack, or stream-flow conditions, because York Region's permanent water-conservation framework treats demand reduction as an ongoing operational requirement rather than a seasonal emergency. Markham is the largest city in York Region (~360,000 residents) and Canada's high-tech corporate capital — IBM Canada Headquarters, Allstate Insurance, Honda Canada Manufacturing, and Multimatic all base regional operations here. Markham was incorporated as a town in 1971 and elevated to a city in 2012. Old Markham Village (Main Street) sits within a heritage conservation district, and distinct neighbourhoods including Cornell, Unionville, Box Grove, Berczy, and Cathedraltown carry varied housing stock and lot sizes — all under the same single citywide bylaw. York Region (the upper-tier Regional Municipality) wholesales drinking water to all nine of its lower-tier member municipalities, including Markham. The Region buys water primarily from the City of Toronto's Lake Ontario intake at the R.C. Harris Water Treatment Plant and from Peel Region's Lakeview intake, supplementing with regional groundwater wells in northern townships (King, East Gwillimbury, Whitchurch-Stouffville). York Region's flagship conservation programme — Water for Tomorrow — has driven measurable per-capita water-use reductions since launch and underpins the year-round bylaw. The odd/even rule exists because York Region serves one of the fastest-growing populations in Canada with finite Lake Ontario allocation rights. Spreading demand evenly across odd and even dates reduces peak-hour treatment-plant load and distribution pressure. Markham enforces the schedule through its own bylaw officers; York Region coordinates the conservation framework but does not enforce directly. Unlike British Columbia or Alberta cities responding to acute drought, Markham's rules are permanent demand-management — the schedule will not be lifted by a wet summer or a high-snowpack winter.
How to keep your Markham lawn alive
10 tips for Markham homeowners.
Identify your address parity first — odd-numbered Markham addresses water on odd-numbered calendar days; even on even. The schedule is permanent and applies every day of the year.
Set automatic sprinklers to deliver a deep 25 mm in a single session within the 6:00 PM – 11:00 PM evening window — deep, infrequent watering produces drought-tolerant root growth in Kentucky Bluegrass and Tall Fescue lawns common in Cornell, Unionville, and Berczy.
Mow at 75–90 mm during summer; Markham's mix of cool-season grasses (Kentucky Bluegrass, Perennial Ryegrass, Fine Fescue) shades soil better at higher cuts and tolerates the assigned-day schedule well.
Apply for a new-sod or new-seed establishment permit through markham.ca before installation — the schedule does not allow daily watering for new lawns without a permit.
Use a rain gauge — Markham averages roughly 70–80 mm of rain in May, June, and July; skip your assigned day after any 10 mm+ rainfall. The bylaw permits this kind of voluntary skip.
Install a rain barrel — captured rainwater is unrestricted and ideal for vegetable gardens and ornamental beds outside the assigned-day window.
Hand watering of vegetables, flowers, trees, and shrubs with a shut-off nozzle is permitted any day, any time — prioritise mature trees and food crops over turf.
Apply 50–75 mm of mulch around shrub beds to retain moisture between scheduled waterings; clay-loam soils common across Markham hold mulch effects well.
If you live near the Markham–Toronto border (Steeles Avenue) or the Markham–Vaughan border (Yonge Street, north of Steeles), confirm which municipality your property is in — Toronto has no mandatory schedule, while Markham does.
Ontario condominium corporations cannot fine you for a brown lawn caused by complying with Markham's bylaw — the Condominium Act 1998 makes such fines unenforceable.
Markham water restriction FAQs
Can I water my lawn in Markham right now?
Why does Markham have year-round restrictions when Toronto doesn't?
Do Markham's tech-corporate campuses follow the same odd/even rule?
Is Old Markham Village's heritage landscape under different rules?
How does Markham's $360 fine compare to other York Region cities?
I'm in Cornell — does the new-build status give me any grace period?
Are Markham's parks and Pan Am Centre grounds covered?
Can my Ontario condo fine me for a brown lawn caused by complying with the bylaw?
Get alerts for Markham, Ontario
We will email you when Markham restrictions change – escalations, new stages, or lifted restrictions.
No spam, ever. Unsubscribe anytime.
Other Ontario cities
Community Reports & Questions
Share an update, ask a question, or report a change in your local restrictions.
No community reports yet
Be the first to share a local update, ask a question, or report a change in your area's restrictions.