Most owners have never seen theirs. It was handed to whoever owned the land the week the well was drilled, and it often went into a drawer that did not survive the next sale. That is a shame, because it is the only document that says how deep the well goes, what the drill passed through on the way down, where the water came in, and how much the well gave when it was tested.
On our builds, the well is part of site preparation, which I oversee alongside excavation and foundations. Here is what a well record is, how to find one, how to read it, and what to do when yours cannot be found.
What a well record is, and who has to give you one
A well record is the form a licensed well contractor fills out when a well is built, substantially altered or properly closed. Every one of the well records Ontario holds started as that form. The rules are in the Wells Regulation, Regulation 903, and the timelines are short.
- New well: once the structural stage is done, the contractor completes the record and delivers a copy to the person who paid for the well and to the owner of the land within 14 days.
- The ministry’s copy: the contractor forwards one to the ministry within 30 days. That copy is what ends up on the public map.
- The contractor’s copy: kept for two years.
- Closing a well: plugging and sealing an old well produces its own record, due to the landowner within 14 days of the equipment leaving the site.
A minor alteration or a new pump does not need a new record. A repair or alteration beyond that does, and the province’s advice is plain: ask the contractor for your copy and ask them to confirm when it has gone to the ministry.
What is on a well record, section by section
The form looks dense the first time. It reads in a sensible order, though, from where the well is, down through the ground, to what came out of it.
Where the well is
A street address where there is one, the township, lot and concession, and UTM coordinates. There is also a small hand-drawn map with the property lines, a north arrow and at least two measurements to fixed points such as a corner of the house. The province’s own guidance warns that bad location details make a well hard to find in the field. Years later, those two measurements are often how somebody finds a buried casing.
The log of what the drill went through
Layer by layer, from the surface down: the colour, the main material, anything mixed in, and the depth where each layer starts and stops. Sand, clay, gravel, then rock, with the depth to bedrock in metres or feet. Where rock sits close to the surface, as it does on many cottage-country lots, this part is short and the rest of the hole is bedrock.
Casing, screen and seal
The casing’s inside diameter, material, wall thickness and how deep it goes. A well finished in sand or gravel may have a screen, with its slot size and depth. Then the seal around the outside of the casing: what was used and how much. The casing and seal are what keep surface water out, which is why the depths matter.
Water found and the yield test
The depth where water came in, whether gas was met, and whether the water was fresh or untested. Then the test: how fast the well was pumped and for how long, how far the level dropped, how quickly it recovered, and the static level when the pump was off. The contractor also writes down a recommended pump depth and pumping rate.
That recommendation is worth knowing. When a pump starts losing pressure or running dry, the province’s maintenance guidance starts with checking the pump against what the well record recommends.
Who signed it
The contractor’s business name and licence number, and the technician’s name and licence number. Contractors and technicians both have to be licensed in Ontario, and the number on the record is one you can check.
How to search the well records Ontario keeps online
The province publishes a free interactive map on its well records page at ontario.ca. Zoom in to see individual wells, click one, and its record opens. There are several ways in:
- By address, with a search radius in metres that you set yourself.
- By coordinates, in decimal degrees, degrees-minutes-seconds or UTM.
- By the numbers on a record: a seven-digit Well ID, a tag number (the letter A and six digits), an audit number, a four-digit contractor licence number, a completion date or a range of depths.
- By drawing an area on the map. A search returns up to 2,000 wells.
- By township, lot and concession, using the prefixes LOT and CON.
The same well records Ontario shows on the map also sit in its open data catalogue as the Water Well Information System, with dates running from 1899 to the middle of 2026. It is refreshed twice a year, so a well drilled last month may not be on the map yet.
When the well records Ontario holds predate your address
Older rural records were often filed by lot and concession rather than by a 911 address, and many townships have since amalgamated. If an address search turns up nothing, try the geographic township with the lot and concession from your deed. The province asks contractors to record both old and new township names for exactly this reason.
The well tag on the casing
Every new cased well gets a tag from the ministry, fixed permanently to the outside of the casing or to a permanent structure beside it, where the cap will not hide it. A cased well that has a significant alteration and no tag gets one then.
That tag number is the quickest way into the well records Ontario keeps. Read it off the casing, type it into the tag search, and the match is exact. Nobody may remove, deface or cover a tag except as the regulation allows, so if you are landscaping around a wellhead, keep it visible.
An older well that has never been worked on may have no tag at all. That does not mean there is no record; it means you will need one of the other searches.
When your well is missing from the well records Ontario holds
The well records Ontario puts on the map only cover wells that were reported with enough information to place them. The province lists four reasons a record may not be there: it was never submitted, it was incomplete or wrong, it could not be tied to a location, or it is delayed or under review. The ministry also says plainly that it does not guarantee the information is current, accurate or complete.
If you cannot find yours:
- Ask the seller or previous owner. A paper copy is often in a folder with the deed or mortgage papers.
- Look at the casing for a tag number and search it.
- Use the province’s well record request form, linked from the well records page.
- Have a licensed contractor look at the well. Ontario recommends a licensed, experienced contractor for any inspection, since wells carry real hazards. If a camera goes down, keep the video with your other records.
Whatever turns up, test the water. The province recommends testing a private well at least three times a year, including spring and fall. Public Health Ontario provides free kits for bacterial testing; chemical testing goes through a licensed lab for a fee.
Using well records Ontario publishes before you buy a lot
This is where the well records Ontario publishes earn their keep for anyone planning a build. You cannot look under a vacant lot, but you can look at the records for the wells around it.
Search the lot’s address with a radius of a few hundred metres and open what comes back. Look at three things on each record:
- Depth to bedrock in the log, and what sat above it.
- The depth where water was found, and the total depth of the well.
- The yield test: the pumping rate, and how far the level fell.
If the neighbours all hit water in gravel at a modest depth, that is encouraging. If every well nearby went deep into rock, expect yours to as well, and expect the drilling bill to follow the depth. Our posts on what drilling a well costs and on dug versus drilled wells go further into both.
Be honest with yourself about what this is. A neighbour’s record is a preview of the ground, not a promise about your water. Two wells a short walk apart can find very different things, especially in fractured rock.
Check the lot itself, too. If the records show an old well on the property you are buying, find out whether it is still in use. Ontario requires a well that is no longer used or maintained for future use to be plugged and sealed, and that becomes the new owner’s job.
Keep it where the next person will find it
Once you have your well record, make it easy to find. The province suggests extra copies in a few places: one beside the pump, one with the mortgage papers, and a scan.
When the property changes hands, pass every record along, including those for any wells that were closed. A buyer who knows where an old, sealed well sits is a buyer who does not dig into it. And the next contractor to service the well will start from the same page you did.
Where to start with your well record
If you already own a home with a well, find the tag, search the map, and print what you find. If nothing comes up, start with the previous owner and the request form.
If you are building, the record is one of the documents you should have in hand before the house is finished. On our projects, well drilling is handled as part of site preparation, along with the septic system and the rest of the work that readies raw land. If you are looking at a lot and want to talk through what the wells around it suggest, tell us about the property. We reply within two business days.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find the well record for my property in Ontario?
Search the free map of well records Ontario publishes on ontario.ca by address, by the tag number on your well casing, or by township, lot and concession. Click the well to open its record. If it is not there, ask the previous owner or use the province’s well record request form.
What information is on a well record?
The well’s location and a sketch map, a log of every soil and rock layer the drill passed through, the casing and seal, the depth where water was found, the yield test results, the recommended pump depth and rate, and the contractor’s and technician’s licence numbers.
How long does a contractor have to give me the well record?
Under Ontario’s Wells Regulation, a copy has to reach the landowner and the person who paid for the well within 14 days of finishing the well’s structural stage. The contractor sends the ministry its copy within 30 days.
Why is my well not on the well records map?
The province says a record may be missing because it was never submitted, was incomplete or inaccurate, could not be linked to a location, or is delayed or under review. The map is also refreshed only twice a year, so a very new well may not appear yet.
What is a well tag number?
It is the number on the tag the ministry issues for every new cased well, fixed to the casing or a permanent structure next to it. It starts with the letter A followed by six digits, and searching it on the map finds that well’s record directly.
