Welcome to the Winter Edition of News Splash. Over the past year, infrastructure failures in Edmonton, Calgary, Montreal and Winnipeg made the news, which made our 'brilliantly invisible' water systems much more visible. The issue of aging infrastructure dominated discussions among senior water leaders during our meetings held this quarter. Given the age of infrastructure in Canada's big cities, [...]

Canadian Water Network's CEO Nicola Crawhall recently sat down for a conversation with Benjamin Morgan, principal and managing director of the Centre for Crisis and Risk Communications. Benjamin is one of the country's leading communications experts for managing emergency situations in high pressure environments. He’s advised through numerous crises, including Canada's two costliest natural disasters and largest peace-time evacuation: [...]

Submitted by Katina Tam, Senior Program Advisor Meet Russ Munro from Saskatoon Water Many of Canada's municipal water leaders are exceptional individuals with diverse backgrounds. To celebrate and elevate their contributions, CWN is creating profiles that showcase their career paths and insights on industry trends. For our third water leader spotlight, meet Russ Munro, director of Saskatoon Water. Early influences [...]

Submitted by Kim Jusek, Manager of the Municipal Consortium (former) This fall, the Canadian Water Municipal Consortium continued to support utility leaders in working toward sustainable, equitable and resilient cities. During this quarter we have focused on strategies to communicate with key stakeholders and the public to enhance understanding of complex urban water systems. Effective communication can help secure [...]

Submitted by Talia Glickman, Wastewater-based Surveillance Program Manager CWN's collaboration with the National Collaborating Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCCID), with funding from the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), is instrumental in empowering public health practitioners through our wastewater-based surveillance (WBS) program. This initiative supports peer learning and knowledge sharing for public health practitioners. National Summit on Wastewater Surveillance [...]

Submitted by Sandra Cooke, Director, Communities and Climate CWN has advanced action on several water and climate-related initiatives since September 2024. We are advancing collaboration in the municipal water sector to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) by launching a new project funded by Environment and Climate Change Canada. We have also begun to investigate approaches for integrating adaptation planning [...]

PFAS are a concern due to their persistence, mobility and toxicity with widespread exposure. Exposure to higher concentrations have been linked to cancer. There is also evidence of effects from exposure in utero, infancy and early childhood, including immunosuppression and diminished vaccine efficacy, as well as an increased risk of infections, allergies, asthma and attention deficit. At a recent [...]

On October 16, 2024, in Winnipeg, the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, officially announced the establishment of the Canada Water Agency as a standalone federal entity. Daniel Wolfish remains at the helm as Interim President, pending the selection of a permanent President through a Privy Council Office-led process in 2025. In 2025, the Agency will [...]

As the federal lead for freshwater science, Environment and Climate Change Canada's Science and Technology Branch is leading the development of a National Freshwater Science Agenda, an inclusive and coordinated roadmap that identifies the most pressing freshwater challenges across Canada. It will inform a coordinated approach to the science needed to address these challenges over the next 10 years. [...]

Natural Resources Canada's Climate-Resilient Coastal Communities Program (CRCC) is providing funding to enhance the climate resilience of coastal communities and businesses and accelerate adaptation through integrated regional-scale pilot projects. The CRCC program is co-funding 21 pilot projects on Canada's three marine coasts — Atlantic, Pacific, and North — and in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence region, representing diverse economic, social [...]

On October 24, Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada launched a new initiative to empower communities across Canada in building resilient, low-carbon housing and infrastructure. The Climate Toolkit for Housing and Infrastructure (CTHI) offers important support for various infrastructure sectors, including water, wastewater, and stormwater management. The CTHI provides a suite of open access tools and support services designed to [...]

The Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund (CHIF) is part of the Government of Canada's commitment to address the impacts of the housing crisis on communities of all sizes across Canada. CHIF will provide $6 billion over 10 years, starting in 2024-25, to accelerate the construction and upgrading of housing-enabling drinking water, wastewater, stormwater, and solid waste infrastructure, directly supporting the creation [...]

Register for the final webcast of the wastewater process emissions series, Opportunities for process emissions reductions, on December 12 at 3:00 p.m. ET. Learn about strategies for reducing N2O and CH4 emissions at wastewater treatment facilities and how to implement them in your professional role. Abatement of CH4 will focus on preventative maintenance and improved methane capture. N2O reductions [...]

Canadian Water Network (CWN) convened the 2024 Fall Consortium Leaders Group (CLG) meeting in Montreal from October 24-25. This gathering, which occurs twice a year, provides senior leaders in the water sector with a platform to exchange insights about pressing challenges and to foster a peer network with water utilities across the country.   The Fall meeting, co-hosted by the [...]

Canadian Water Network (CWN) is thrilled to introduce our new case studies hub – a resource dedicated to sharing practical knowledge and experiences from municipalities and water utilities across Canada. The hub highlights actionable insights into some of the most pressing challenges facing the water sector today. With these case studies, we aim to inspire and guide water industry [...]

Waterloo, ON, November 12, 2024 /CNW/ On October 10, 2024, Environment and Climate Change Canada announced Canadian Water Network (CWN) has been awarded a grant under the Implementation Readiness Fund. This grant will support CWN’s project “Charting the Course to Net Zero Water: Mobilizing Canada’s Municipal Water Network for Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Mitigation” and will focus on developing networks [...]

Canadian Water Network (CWN) remains a source for updates, knowledge exchange and insights about contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in the Canadian municipal water context. In Canada and internationally, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have dominated the conversation around CEC-related risks to public health in recent years. While research is underway to better understand the risks of PFAS exposure, much [...]

Join us for a webinar on November 14 (12:00 p.m. ET) on strategies water utilities can use to communicate risks related to PFAS, with global expert Dr. Vincent Covello from the Center for Risk Communication. This event is hosted by CWN in partnership with the Global Water Research Coalition. Register online. The prevalence of PFAS in water and wastewater, along [...]

Mark your calendar for Blue Cities 2025 — May 14 & 15 in Mississauga. Don’t miss this event shaped specifically senior managers, thought leaders and cross-sector collaborators from water, wastewater and stormwater utilities; multiple levels of government; public and environmental health, national and provincial NGOs; Indigenous-led organizations; and knowledge and service providers from the private sector. This year’s program [...]

Health Canada has set a new objective for 25 specific per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water at 30 ng/L. This new objective replaces two previous drinking water guidelines and nine screening values derived for individual PFAS. The objective of 30 ng/L is based on treatment data and is considered reasonably achievable using common treatment methods such as Granular [...]

Housing, Infrastructure, and Communities Canada (HICC) is introducing a new climate toolkit initiative to help communities build resilient and low-carbon public infrastructure, such as water and wastewater facilities. This initiative will offer tools and support services to help communities integrate climate-smart solutions into their projects. These include: A climate help desk that will respond to questions on how to [...]

In 2019, the federal Minister of Environment was directed to “advance the modernization of the Canada Water Act to reflect Canada’s freshwater reality, including climate change and Indigenous rights.” The Canada Water Agency (CWA) is currently leading a pre-engagement with key partners to understand how they want to engage in this initiative. The Agency is meeting with provincial and territorial governments [...]

Bill C-59, the Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2023, which included the Canada Water Agency Act, royal assent on June 20, 2024. It sought to establish the Canada Water Agency (CWA) as a standalone entity outside of Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC). The Act also outlined various administrative and transition provisions for the standalone Agency. Before the CWA can officially launch [...]

As the federal lead for freshwater science, Environment and Climate Change Canada’s (ECCC) Science and Technology Branch is leading the development of a National Freshwater Science Agenda. The agenda is an inclusive and coordinated roadmap that identifies the most pressing freshwater challenges across Canada. It will inform a coordinated approach to the science needed to address these challenges over [...]

In Canada, we are privileged to have municipal water leaders from diverse backgrounds serving communities across the country. At Canadian Water Network (CWN), we are highlighting these exceptional individuals. Our aim is to celebrate and elevate their contributions by creating profiles that showcase their career paths and insights on industry trends. For our second water leader spotlight, meet Gen [...]