Find Water and Sanitation expertise in Canada

Water is abundant in Canada – around 20% of the world’s available fresh water is located in the country. Many of the major river systems and water sources are located far from urban areas and only 3% of the area covered by lakes and rivers is inhabited. Biofuel projects, including the Saint John Safe Cleaning Drinking Water Project in New Brunswick, have been launched in Canada to address the energy supply crisis that is expected to hit by 2030. This project will incorporate three new 11 million-litre storage reservoirs and 15 designated water transmission system improvements to provide clean, safe drinking water to residents. This particular project is being funded at US$114.6 million (in 2006 the water industry was valued at $7.8 billion). In each province there is a mix of investor-owned and municipally run water utilities, with a provincial utilities commission that sets the tariffs for the sale of water by municipally owned utilities. However, 56% of utilities use a flat-rate pricing structure, which may be a contributing factor to the high rate water usage in Canada. The country’s bottled-water industry produced 21.5 million hectolitres in 2006, with Ontario leading regional sales at 48% of this total. There are approximately 65 bottlers operating in Canada and more than 100 brands.