Water utility leaders facing complex challenges benefit from connections with trusted peers who are experiencing similar challenges and working toward shared goals.

Our Canadian Municipal Water Consortium is a national network of water utility leaders with a common goal of advancing sustainable, equitable and resilient urban water management. The consortium provides a platform for leaders to share their knowledge and approaches to municipal water management and explore strategic issues on the horizon.

Currently, the consortium supports senior decision-makers from 25 municipal water departments and utilities that collectively serve over 25 million people across Canada.

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Leading Municipalities and Utilities
0%
of Canadian Population Represented
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Canadians Served

Themes

The following themes are informing the Canadian Municipal Water Consortium’s work plan between 2023 and 2025:

  • Servicing housing and densification through innovative approaches and cross-sector collaboration.
  • Mainstreaming climate change adaptation and mitigation across water management services.
  • Advancing utility financial sustainability to address changing macro and socioeconomic conditions of communities.
  • Navigating uncertainty and tools to manage, share and communicate risks.
  • Adapting utility governance to changing realities in delivering water services through digital transformation and integrated water management.

Canadian Water Network actively convenes the right people at the right time to address pressing water management challenges. We help members navigate complexity and uncertainty using an approach that is grounded in science and led by the community.

The Leaders Group provides some of the best value available in terms of the opportunity to engage and learn from my peers in water utilities across Canada.
Reid Campbell, Director, Engineering & Technology Services, Halifax Water

Sharing ideas and approaches is so helpful. The value we get out of being able to tweak what others have done and customize it using only internal staff time is a huge cost saving for us.

Participant, Consortium Leaders

I am a strong proponent of the Municipal Consortium. Sharing best practices and experiences from across Canada is invaluable. The Strategic Sharing Group for COVID-19 was a great example of how agile and responsive the Consortium is to emerging issues.

Francois Bouchart, Director, Water Resources, City of Calgary

The consortium offers a range of benefits, including:

  • A national peer network to exchange insights and promising practices to advance strategic water management.

  • A network of global thought leaders from academia and industry and water service leaders in other countries.

  • Curated knowledge on top trends, priorities and challenges facing municipal water management, to support innovation and advance local decision-making.

  • Expanded connections across sectors to work toward shared goals.

Featured Activities

Data Strategic
Sharing Group

Since 2023, senior utility leaders across the country have been sharing knowledge and best practices for data management, data governance and digital transformation.

Stormwater Strategic
Sharing Group

Senior utility leaders exchange knowledge about stormwater best practices, emerging research and funding opportunities that may help utilities build climate resilience.

Webinar on Equity and Affordability

Our webinar with Stantec examined the key elements of a customer assistance program and how rate designs can be effectively applied in communities across Canada.

Relevant Links

Land Acknowledgement

Canadian Water Network (CWN) respectfully recognizes and acknowledges the deep connection that First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples across Canada have with the land that all Canadians call home. We also honour and recognize the significance of the treaties that establish the relationship between Indigenous peoples and settlers on this land.

Our office is located in Waterloo, Ontario, on the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishinaabeg and Haudenosaunee peoples. More specifically, our office is situated on the Haldimand Tract, the land granted to the Six Nations that extends six miles on each side of the Grand River.

We are grateful for the privilege to work and live on this land.