Utilities across Canada are facing growing financial pressures, including rising infrastructure costs, aging assets, population growth, and increasing expectations for service reliability and affordability.

To help utilities address these challenges, the Municipal Water Consortium (MWC) undertook a financial sustainability project in partnership with and with financial support from Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada (HICC).

Through interviews with municipal leaders, research, and peer engagement, the project focused on identifying how utilities are navigating these challenges and what strategies are proving most effective in practice.

A key output of this phase is a series of 10 solution-oriented “stories” that showcase how utilities across Canada are improving financial sustainability. These stories are organized around four themes:

1. Building strong financial foundations.
2. Optimizing assets and operations.
3. Proactively managing risk
4. Leveraging scale and collaboration.

Across these themes, utilities are applying strategies such as full cost recovery, strategic use of debt, risk-based asset management, alternative project delivery models, and intermunicipal partnerships.

A consistent message is that financial sustainability is not just about financial tools, but also about governance, data, culture, and leadership. Utilities that invest in strong fundamentals — such as accurate data, transparent rate structures, and long-term planning — are better positioned to manage risk, avoid costly surprises, and make informed decisions over time.

The project has also demonstrated the strength of the Municipal Water Consortium’s peer exchange model, not only for its members but for the broader water sector across Canada. By bringing together utility leaders to share practical experiences and lessons learned, the MWC is helping surface approaches that can be adapted by municipalities facing similar challenges. We had the opportunity to present this work at the Ontario Water Works Association Conference on May 6 in Niagara Falls, where it was well received and recognized as particularly valuable for mid-sized cities working to strengthen financial sustainability.

CWN will soon make the financial sustainability stories publicly available on our website and is currently shaping the next phase of this work. If you are interested in learning more about the stories, engaging in dialogue with peers on financial sustainability, or sharing ideas on how to further promote and apply this work, please get in touch with Nancy Goucher ([email protected]).