Reflections is a monthly blog series authored by CWN’s CEO Nicola Crawhall. This series is designed for decision-makers navigating the complex water-related challenges. It helps leaders stay ahead of change and make informed decisions that shape the future of water in Canada.

Canada’s first National Infrastructure Assessment (NIA) was released at the end of November. Its main conclusions will sound familiar to anyone working in water, wastewater, or stormwater at the local level:

• We are underinvesting in our existing infrastructure.
• The three levels of government don’t coordinate spending effectively.
• Climate impacts are a game changer, and we aren’t ready.

So why is this first NIA so important for Canada?

Transparency. Accountability. Informed decision-making.

These are the reasons cited by Peter Weltman, and he should know. He is the vice chair of the Canadian Infrastructure Council (CIC), which oversaw the development of the NIA. Peter, a former Financial Accountability Officer of Ontario, has spent much of his career analyzing data to determine how public money has been spent. See my thought leader interview with Peter in the Winter 2025 edition of News Splash.

The equitable and sustainable availability of water, and the state of the infrastructure that supports this vital service, will determine whether our communities thrive, our economy grows, and individual Canadians remain healthy. Yet, until now, we lacked a clear national picture of its condition and whether it can support projected growth.

The NIA matters because it provides evidence and insights into long-standing problems we have known about but had no systematic way to track. How will all levels of government use this information to make more informed infrastructure investment decisions? I’ve cherry-picked four key insights and some considerations for decision makers.

1. Water infrastructure is underperforming

Most Canadians enjoy safe, clean drinking water and sanitation, but the underlying infrastructure is underperforming. Our water systems leak, a lot. The NIA estimates 17 percent water loss, equivalent to the total drinking water consumed in B.C. (806 million litres). This is worsening, suggesting declining asset condition.

Considerations for decision-making:   Non-revenue water represents lost income and wasted resources—energy, chemicals, labor, and more—making the entire water system less financially sustainable.  Senior governments should prioritize helping municipalities reduce non-revenue water.

2. Indigenous communities face persistent gaps

The quality of water and sanitation services to Indigenous communities remains well behind that of the rest of Canadians. As of the end of August 2025, 39 long-term drinking water advisories were in place in First Nation communities.

Considerations for decision-making: While more money is important, new governance systems that put Indigenous people in the driver’s seat are demonstrating success. . Take a look at what the Atlantic First Nations Water Authority is accomplishing through an Indigenous-led water utility model.

3. Climate change is overwhelming infrastructure

Climate change-induced catastrophic flooding, wildfires, extreme heat, and drought are worsening from coast to coast, overwhelming our infrastructure, resulting in property damage, risk to our health, and significant service disruptions.

Considerations for decision-making:  We can’t reverse climate change, but we can be better informed about the predicted climate outcomes over the next 25-50 years. Make it a requirement to build for those conditions, not today’s (or worse, yesterday’s).

4. Build housing where infrastructure exists

We need to build housing where existing infrastructure can be leveraged (my added emphasis). “Higher population density levels can reduce the cost to deliver infrastructure services per household due to economies of scale. It can cost over three times more to provide community mobility and water and sanitation infrastructure services to low-density suburban areas than it does in high-density urban neighbourhoods.”

Considerations for decision-making: Public works departments and land use planning departments already work together to plot out where existing infrastructure can be used optimally for growth, and some municipalities provide significant incentives to developers to build in these areas. More incentives and targeted authority from senior governments to single and two tiered municipalities would help drive efficiency in the use of existing infrastructure to support growth.

What’s next?

Evidence-based insights and recommendations should guide informed decision-making. But that’s the easy part. The harder question is: what is the pathway to make progress?

At a minimum, we need:

• A national water infrastructure financial strategy.
• A national infrastructure skills-based workforce strategy.
• A national infrastructure procurement and supply chain strategy to help navigate current trade turmoil.

Transparency, accountability, informed decision-making. These are the reasons we should pay attention to the NIA as it evolves. This is why we should actively promote it and use it as a decision-making tool for the federal government and its provincial counterparts. Let’s build on this good start and work together on a pathway forward to build the housing we need, supported by sustainable, equitable water infrastructure and services for all.