BREAKING NEWS: Canada Creates New Water Agency to Promote Collaboration and Data Sharing

Canadian Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault announced the official launch of the Canada Water Agency on 16 October 2024. Guilbeault made the announcement at a press conference with representatives from all levels of government and members of Canada's First Nations at The Forks Market in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

The agency will act as the federal focal point for collaboration between all stakeholders - including provinces, territories, and Indigenous peoples - for decisions relating to Canada's fresh water. Its mandate is to protect and manage Canada's freshwater resources, improve water quality, and promote responsible economic opportunities while working to mitigate the impact of climate change.

“The agency will help the government of Canada better address current weather challenges, and those of the future,” said Guilbeault. “We need to be better prepared for what comes in the future. We need to recognize that water is becoming more scarce and more precious. We have a responsibility to protect the waters that we have. A strong Canada Water Agency will help us to do all these things and address new challenges as they arise.”

The new agency will provide policy leadership for managing Canada's freshwater resources, support opportunities and funding for Indigenous inclusion, use science and data related to freshwater, and promote Canada-U.S. collaboration on shared resources at Canada's borders. It will have its headquarters in Winnipeg with regional offices in different locations across Canada, which will help the agency better understand local nuances related to water resources.

While the Canada Water Agency will eventually be a stand-alone entity, it currently exists within Environment and Climate Change Canada while establishing its departmental structures.

A Data-Based Approach to Water Management

According to Government of Canada statistics, Canada has access to as much as 20% of the world's fresh water and 7% of its renewable fresh water, giving it one of the largest renewable supplies of fresh water in the world. This includes over 2 million lakes and rivers with three coasts across international, provincial, and territorial boundaries. Canada's water is a significant component of its environment and economic growth and plays a critical role in the cultural and spiritual lives of its Indigenous peoples.

With such plentiful water resources, collaboration among stakeholders has not always been easy. When organizations need access to data to make decisions about the marine environment, economic opportunities, flood risk, or the health implications of access to clean water, that data has often existed in many different places, including federal, provincial, and local governments; academic institutions; nongovernmental institutions; and industry. With fragmented data collections and no standardized approaches to collecting, analyzing, and sharing the data, working with Canada's water resources has frequently been an exercise in frustration.

The Canada Water Agency will oversee the National Freshwater Data Strategy. This strategy will provide all Canadians with a single source of high-quality, standardized data on freshwater resources, which will support data-based decision-making.

Climate change will also be an important part of the agency's mandate. “In many parts of the world, if not most, the climate crisis will be a water crisis,” said Guilbeault. “We're seeing it here in Canada, in a country that's blessed with so much fresh water, and yet parts of our country are facing droughts.” Canadian farmers have borne the brunt of much of this crisis, said Guilbeault, as water shortages have impacted their ability to grow crops and raise livestock.

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