Federal government announces new initiative to reach Canada’s net-zero commitments
The Government of Canada recently announced new initiatives to reach its net-zero commitments. Although these initiatives don’t impact local governments directly, related initiatives have the potential to open doors for local governments. One of the new initiatives announced by the Government of Canada is that major suppliers to the federal government will be required to disclose their greenhouse gas [...]
Canadian Municipal Water Consortium: Program update and future direction
Over the past year, the Canadian Municipal Water Consortium hosted several conversations on topics of interest to municipal and utility leaders. These conversations took place through topic-specific Strategic Sharing Groups (SSGs). These SSGs are communities of practice that bring together municipalities and utilities to discuss challenges they are facing, as well as share knowledge and best practices to address [...]
Does Canada need to worry about climate and water scarcity?
World Water Day on March 22 drew global attention to the threat of climate change to dwindling water supplies. There is plenty of evidence of climate impacts on water availability. Initially, these impacts were most acutely felt in the global south. As a result of these impacts, Cape Town imposed water bans, Syria faced years of drought that contributed [...]
Protecting the Seal River Watershed
In December 2022, the governments of Canada and Manitoba agreed to support the Seal River Watershed Alliance in undertaking a feasibility study to establish an Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area (IPCA). The proposed IPCA was featured as one of four global examples of how Indigenous peoples relate to land, water, culture and language at an event during World Water [...]
Perth, Australia – An innovative city in a rainfall-constrained world
Perth is a city of around two million people in Western Australia. After watching its inflows reduce steadily over 40 years, Water Corporation – the water utility for Perth and most of Western Australia – embarked on an innovative program to diversify its water supply in the face of a drying climate. Now, the city relies on a resilient [...]
Budget 2023 is a freshwater budget
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland delivered the 2023 federal budget on March 28. While most measures that caught the headlines were focused on cost-of-living relief, Budget 2023 was the most significant freshwater budget in decades. This is what we know so far: Creation of a Canada Water Agency (CWA) The federal government has confirmed that the CWA will be a [...]
CWN welcomes Deborah Van Dyk as program manager
We’re excited to share that Deborah Van Dyk has joined the Canadian Water Network (CWN) team as a program manager for our Wastewater-Based Surveillance (WBS) Program! “CWN is thrilled to welcome Deborah to our dynamic team,” says Katrina Hitchman, director of program development. “Her public health expertise will be invaluable as we engage local public health practitioners across the [...]
A Dutch wastewater treatment plant that’s changing the game
Want to reduce energy use associated with wastewater treatment, sewage sludge volume, and your plant’s footprint by 30%? Today, Nicola Crawhall, Canadian Water Network’s CEO, was shown how the Dutch do it. Nicola was given a tour of the Nereda wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in Epe, Netherlands. The WWTP uses aerobic granular biomass derived from the sewage itself. Microorganisms [...]
Generational and radical rethinking of the water sector
Yesterday, Canadian Water Network’s (CWN) CEO Nicola Crawhall participated in a workshop called Generational and Radical Rethinking of the Water Sector (GRROW). The workshop took place at KWR’s headquarters in Nieuwegein, Netherlands. KWR is a water research organization that generates knowledge for its 11 shareholders, 10 Dutch drinking water companies and one drinking water company in Belgium. Over the last [...]
Taking the temperature on toxicity in watersheds
Imagine having one number to communicate the pollutant load within a water body, as simple as checking the outdoor temperature to know how to dress. That is precisely what the Dutch Foundation for Applied Water Research (STOWA) has developed for the 21 regional water boards that are responsible for water management in the Netherlands. Today, Canadian Water Network’s (CWN) [...]
Modernizing the Canada Water Act
Canadian Water Network’s Sandra Cooke moderated a panel discussion on modernizing the Canada Water Act. The panel discussion took place during a workshop on January 27 hosted by the Ontario branch of the Canadian Water Resources Association (CWRA). This blog post shares Sandra’s perspective on the panel and the workshop. I would like to start off by thanking [...]
Year in review: Letter from our CEO Nicola Crawhall
As the new CEO of Canadian Water Network (CWN), I am delighted to provide you with highlights of a significant year of transition and a sneak preview of our direction in 2023. These highlights include, among others: Passing of the CEO torch. Welcoming new team members, as well as municipal and utility leaders, to the Canadian Municipal Water Consortium. [...]
CWN hosts workshop to discuss trends in the water utility space
Canadian Water Network’s (CWN) Canadian Municipal Water Consortium recently hosted a leaders’ workshop to discuss current and emerging trends in the water utility space. The workshop started off by reflecting on the trends identified by CWN in a report we completed for the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) in 2019. The report, Canada’s Municipal Water Sector: Key Trends, Needs, [...]
Unpacking the vital role of freshwater management in climate change mitigation
The United Nations (UN) recently hosted the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27) in Egypt. Given that the UN’s sixth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 6) is centred around access to clean water and sanitation, it was exciting to see that water was featured prominently at COP27. For the first time, COP [...]
CWN welcomes Dr. Jessica Akande as program advisor
We’re excited to share that Dr. Jessica Akande has joined the Canadian Water Network (CWN) team as a program advisor! “I am thrilled to have Jessica join our team,” says Sandra Cooke, director of CWN’s Canadian Municipal Water Consortium. “Her expertise in the climate change space complements the work we’re doing through the Municipal Consortium. I am looking forward [...]
CWN and NCCID hosting webinar on demystifying science around wastewater surveillance
The National Collaborating Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCCID), in collaboration with Canadian Water Network (CWN), is hosting a webinar on demystifying science around wastewater surveillance. This webinar presents findings from the 2022 Royal Society of Canada policy brief on wastewater surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 RNA in Canada. This report summarizes pan-Canadian wastewater surveillance approaches adopted across jurisdictions in Canada and the usefulness [...]
CWN hosting workshop to discuss trends in the water utility space
Canadian Water Network’s (CWN) Canadian Municipal Water Consortium is hosting a Leaders Workshop to discuss current and emerging trends in the water utility space. During this working session, participants will review and reflect on the trends identified in CWN’s report on Canada’s Municipal Water Sector: Key Trends, Needs, Leading Practices and Innovations. The report was completed in 2019 for the [...]
CWN welcomes Katina Tam as senior program advisor
We’re excited to share that Katina Tam has joined the Canadian Water Network (CWN) team as a senior program advisor! Through this role, Katina leads and implements various initiatives supporting the Municipal Consortium and other CWN programs. This includes developing high-quality curated content, like reports and case studies, that can be used by network participants to inform decision-making. She also [...]
New report on COVID-19 wastewater surveillance in Canada highlights CWN’s role
The Royal Society of Canada has prepared a policy briefing report on Wastewater Surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 RNA in Canada. The development of the report was led by Dr. Steve E. Hrudey, chair of the Royal Society of Canada’s Policy Briefing Working Group and chair of the National Research Advisory Group for Canadian Water Network’s (CWN) COVID-19 Wastewater Coalition. Bernadette [...]
CWN hosts Leaders Dialogue on densification
Canadian Water Network (CWN) recently hosted a Leaders Dialogue to discuss the challenges and opportunities water leaders face in servicing densifying areas in our cities. Some key challenges clarified during the meeting include that: Rapid densification in core areas of cities, often encouraged and incentivized by city officials for economic and social benefits, leads to capacity-related challenges for urban water [...]
Measuring GHG emissions to track progress and inform decision-making
The Canadian Municipal Water Consortium’s Net-Zero Strategic Sharing Group met for the second time on June 9, 2022. Utility leaders engaged in a dialogue around the challenges and opportunities utilities face in measuring, modelling and tracking GHG emissions. Participants also explored the role of measuring GHG emissions in establishing and fulfilling each city’s and/or utility’s net-zero goals. Some key [...]
CWN to host Leaders Dialogue on densification
Canadian Water Network is hosting a Leaders Dialogue to discuss the challenges and opportunities water leaders face in servicing densifying areas in our cities. Many of Canada’s large urban centres are experiencing growth. Recent census estimates from Statistics Canada show that urban core areas are growing faster than five years ago and that downtowns are growing more rapidly than before. This rapid growth [...]
Nicola Crawhall joins Canadian Water Network as CEO
Canadian Water Network (CWN) is pleased to announce that Nicola Crawhall is joining the organization as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) on June 20, 2022. Nicola has over 25 years of professional experience in leading and supporting municipal networks and shaping water governance and policy. For over a decade, Nicola served as the Deputy Director of the Great Lakes and [...]
CWN thanks CEO Bernadette Conant for 20 years of leadership
Canadian Water Network (CWN) thanks Bernadette Conant as she prepares to pass the torch to a new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in June 2022. “CWN has benefitted tremendously from Bernadette’s leadership as the organization morphed from a Network of Centres of Excellence (NCE) to the current not-for-profit organization that helps build communities of the future through water,” said Carl [...]
CWN launches new Strategic Sharing Group on accelerating net-zero actions
Canadian Water Network has launched a new peer-to-peer Strategic Sharing Group called Beyond Target Setting: Accelerating Net-Zero Actions in Municipal Water Management. In March 2022, CWN brought together utility leaders from the Canadian Municipal Water Consortium to participate in a structured conversation on the topic. The first meeting featured a case study and guest presentation from Matthew Pluke, Sustainability [...]
Federal government announces new initiative to reach Canada’s net-zero commitments
The Government of Canada recently announced new initiatives to reach its net-zero commitments. Although these initiatives don’t impact local governments directly, related initiatives have the potential to open doors for local governments. One of the new initiatives announced by the Government of Canada is that major suppliers to the federal government will be required to disclose their greenhouse gas [...]
Canadian Municipal Water Consortium: Program update and future direction
Over the past year, the Canadian Municipal Water Consortium hosted several conversations on topics of interest to municipal and utility leaders. These conversations took place through topic-specific Strategic Sharing Groups (SSGs). These SSGs are communities of practice that bring together municipalities and utilities to discuss challenges they are facing, as well as share knowledge and best practices to address [...]
Does Canada need to worry about climate and water scarcity?
World Water Day on March 22 drew global attention to the threat of climate change to dwindling water supplies. There is plenty of evidence of climate impacts on water availability. Initially, these impacts were most acutely felt in the global south. As a result of these impacts, Cape Town imposed water bans, Syria faced years of drought that contributed [...]
Protecting the Seal River Watershed
In December 2022, the governments of Canada and Manitoba agreed to support the Seal River Watershed Alliance in undertaking a feasibility study to establish an Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area (IPCA). The proposed IPCA was featured as one of four global examples of how Indigenous peoples relate to land, water, culture and language at an event during World Water [...]
Perth, Australia – An innovative city in a rainfall-constrained world
Perth is a city of around two million people in Western Australia. After watching its inflows reduce steadily over 40 years, Water Corporation – the water utility for Perth and most of Western Australia – embarked on an innovative program to diversify its water supply in the face of a drying climate. Now, the city relies on a resilient [...]
Budget 2023 is a freshwater budget
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland delivered the 2023 federal budget on March 28. While most measures that caught the headlines were focused on cost-of-living relief, Budget 2023 was the most significant freshwater budget in decades. This is what we know so far: Creation of a Canada Water Agency (CWA) The federal government has confirmed that the CWA will be a [...]
CWN welcomes Deborah Van Dyk as program manager
We’re excited to share that Deborah Van Dyk has joined the Canadian Water Network (CWN) team as a program manager for our Wastewater-Based Surveillance (WBS) Program! “CWN is thrilled to welcome Deborah to our dynamic team,” says Katrina Hitchman, director of program development. “Her public health expertise will be invaluable as we engage local public health practitioners across the [...]
A Dutch wastewater treatment plant that’s changing the game
Want to reduce energy use associated with wastewater treatment, sewage sludge volume, and your plant’s footprint by 30%? Today, Nicola Crawhall, Canadian Water Network’s CEO, was shown how the Dutch do it. Nicola was given a tour of the Nereda wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in Epe, Netherlands. The WWTP uses aerobic granular biomass derived from the sewage itself. Microorganisms [...]
Generational and radical rethinking of the water sector
Yesterday, Canadian Water Network’s (CWN) CEO Nicola Crawhall participated in a workshop called Generational and Radical Rethinking of the Water Sector (GRROW). The workshop took place at KWR’s headquarters in Nieuwegein, Netherlands. KWR is a water research organization that generates knowledge for its 11 shareholders, 10 Dutch drinking water companies and one drinking water company in Belgium. Over the last [...]
Taking the temperature on toxicity in watersheds
Imagine having one number to communicate the pollutant load within a water body, as simple as checking the outdoor temperature to know how to dress. That is precisely what the Dutch Foundation for Applied Water Research (STOWA) has developed for the 21 regional water boards that are responsible for water management in the Netherlands. Today, Canadian Water Network’s (CWN) [...]
Modernizing the Canada Water Act
Canadian Water Network’s Sandra Cooke moderated a panel discussion on modernizing the Canada Water Act. The panel discussion took place during a workshop on January 27 hosted by the Ontario branch of the Canadian Water Resources Association (CWRA). This blog post shares Sandra’s perspective on the panel and the workshop. I would like to start off by thanking [...]
Year in review: Letter from our CEO Nicola Crawhall
As the new CEO of Canadian Water Network (CWN), I am delighted to provide you with highlights of a significant year of transition and a sneak preview of our direction in 2023. These highlights include, among others: Passing of the CEO torch. Welcoming new team members, as well as municipal and utility leaders, to the Canadian Municipal Water Consortium. [...]
CWN hosts workshop to discuss trends in the water utility space
Canadian Water Network’s (CWN) Canadian Municipal Water Consortium recently hosted a leaders’ workshop to discuss current and emerging trends in the water utility space. The workshop started off by reflecting on the trends identified by CWN in a report we completed for the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) in 2019. The report, Canada’s Municipal Water Sector: Key Trends, Needs, [...]
Unpacking the vital role of freshwater management in climate change mitigation
The United Nations (UN) recently hosted the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27) in Egypt. Given that the UN’s sixth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 6) is centred around access to clean water and sanitation, it was exciting to see that water was featured prominently at COP27. For the first time, COP [...]
CWN welcomes Dr. Jessica Akande as program advisor
We’re excited to share that Dr. Jessica Akande has joined the Canadian Water Network (CWN) team as a program advisor! “I am thrilled to have Jessica join our team,” says Sandra Cooke, director of CWN’s Canadian Municipal Water Consortium. “Her expertise in the climate change space complements the work we’re doing through the Municipal Consortium. I am looking forward [...]
CWN and NCCID hosting webinar on demystifying science around wastewater surveillance
The National Collaborating Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCCID), in collaboration with Canadian Water Network (CWN), is hosting a webinar on demystifying science around wastewater surveillance. This webinar presents findings from the 2022 Royal Society of Canada policy brief on wastewater surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 RNA in Canada. This report summarizes pan-Canadian wastewater surveillance approaches adopted across jurisdictions in Canada and the usefulness [...]
CWN hosting workshop to discuss trends in the water utility space
Canadian Water Network’s (CWN) Canadian Municipal Water Consortium is hosting a Leaders Workshop to discuss current and emerging trends in the water utility space. During this working session, participants will review and reflect on the trends identified in CWN’s report on Canada’s Municipal Water Sector: Key Trends, Needs, Leading Practices and Innovations. The report was completed in 2019 for the [...]
CWN welcomes Katina Tam as senior program advisor
We’re excited to share that Katina Tam has joined the Canadian Water Network (CWN) team as a senior program advisor! Through this role, Katina leads and implements various initiatives supporting the Municipal Consortium and other CWN programs. This includes developing high-quality curated content, like reports and case studies, that can be used by network participants to inform decision-making. She also [...]
New report on COVID-19 wastewater surveillance in Canada highlights CWN’s role
The Royal Society of Canada has prepared a policy briefing report on Wastewater Surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 RNA in Canada. The development of the report was led by Dr. Steve E. Hrudey, chair of the Royal Society of Canada’s Policy Briefing Working Group and chair of the National Research Advisory Group for Canadian Water Network’s (CWN) COVID-19 Wastewater Coalition. Bernadette [...]
CWN hosts Leaders Dialogue on densification
Canadian Water Network (CWN) recently hosted a Leaders Dialogue to discuss the challenges and opportunities water leaders face in servicing densifying areas in our cities. Some key challenges clarified during the meeting include that: Rapid densification in core areas of cities, often encouraged and incentivized by city officials for economic and social benefits, leads to capacity-related challenges for urban water [...]
Measuring GHG emissions to track progress and inform decision-making
The Canadian Municipal Water Consortium’s Net-Zero Strategic Sharing Group met for the second time on June 9, 2022. Utility leaders engaged in a dialogue around the challenges and opportunities utilities face in measuring, modelling and tracking GHG emissions. Participants also explored the role of measuring GHG emissions in establishing and fulfilling each city’s and/or utility’s net-zero goals. Some key [...]
CWN to host Leaders Dialogue on densification
Canadian Water Network is hosting a Leaders Dialogue to discuss the challenges and opportunities water leaders face in servicing densifying areas in our cities. Many of Canada’s large urban centres are experiencing growth. Recent census estimates from Statistics Canada show that urban core areas are growing faster than five years ago and that downtowns are growing more rapidly than before. This rapid growth [...]
Nicola Crawhall joins Canadian Water Network as CEO
Canadian Water Network (CWN) is pleased to announce that Nicola Crawhall is joining the organization as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) on June 20, 2022. Nicola has over 25 years of professional experience in leading and supporting municipal networks and shaping water governance and policy. For over a decade, Nicola served as the Deputy Director of the Great Lakes and [...]
CWN thanks CEO Bernadette Conant for 20 years of leadership
Canadian Water Network (CWN) thanks Bernadette Conant as she prepares to pass the torch to a new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in June 2022. “CWN has benefitted tremendously from Bernadette’s leadership as the organization morphed from a Network of Centres of Excellence (NCE) to the current not-for-profit organization that helps build communities of the future through water,” said Carl [...]
CWN launches new Strategic Sharing Group on accelerating net-zero actions
Canadian Water Network has launched a new peer-to-peer Strategic Sharing Group called Beyond Target Setting: Accelerating Net-Zero Actions in Municipal Water Management. In March 2022, CWN brought together utility leaders from the Canadian Municipal Water Consortium to participate in a structured conversation on the topic. The first meeting featured a case study and guest presentation from Matthew Pluke, Sustainability [...]