Igniting Interest. Inspiring Action.

In 2024, we adopted a new tagline, Igniting Interest, Inspiring Action, which captures CWN’s dedication to bringing the right people together to identify solutions to water-related challenges and find collaborative pathways to get there.

Today’s municipal water systems face a cascade of demands, such as servicing rapid housing development for growing populations, managing aging infrastructure risks, adapting to a changing climate, and escalating operations, maintenance and building costs — to list only a few. In short, drinking water, wastewater and stormwater system management has become more complex.

The Canadian Municipal Water Consortium (Municipal Consortium) is the foundation of CWN’s water and communities program area. This pan-Canadian network convenes senior utility leaders to access expert knowledge, build relationships and exchange insights. Utility leaders from 26 of the largest municipalities across Canada meet in person, participate in virtual peer-sharing groups and attend Blue Cities, a national forum for strategic decision-making.

In 2023, CWN and the National Collaborating Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCCID) launched a peer learning program for public health practitioners using wastewater-based surveillance (WBS) data to monitor pathogens and agents of interest at the community level. Activities during that first year focused on helping practitioners communicate and interpret WBS data effectively and ethically. Thirty practitioners from cities and Indigenous regions across four provinces participated. In August 2024, Water Canada recognized CWN and NCCID for this work with an Education Project Award at their national awards ceremony.

Year 2 of the WBS peer learning program began in the spring of 2024, guided by an Expert Advisory Group and funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada. There are two main program areas and 40+ participants. A learning needs assessment was conducted to determine priority learning areas. A strategic sharing group of local and provincial public health practitioners and a forum with representatives from ten provinces and one territory engaged in policy-level discussions around the future sustainability of WBS.

Water and wastewater treatment contribute to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by emitting carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, and can account for up to 40% of a municipality’s total energy consumption. To address this challenge, CWN launched its water and climate program in 2024. We have secured support for strategic projects that mainstream climate action in Canada’s municipal water sector and water-reliant sectors to increase climate resilience and reduce GHG emissions.

With funding from the Government of Canada’s Low Carbon Economy Implementation Readiness Fund, CWN launched a major 3-year project that leverages the Municipal Consortium network to catalyze climate mitigation action. The project was launched this summer at a networking event at the International Water Association’s World Water Congress and Exhibition in Toronto. Over 70 leading experts and water professionals from across Canada, the U.S., the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Australia and Denmark attended.

In addition to the work undertaken in our three programs, we:

• Revised our strategic plan. 
• Welcomed new staff and Board members.
• Received a national award for the Wastewater-based Surveillance Program.
• Started a certification process for CWN’s Indigenous relations journey.

More information about each of these activities is available in our annual report.