About Us
The Canadian Coalition for Healthy Waters is a non-partisan coalition of organizations advocating for federal government leadership and policy to support the health of fresh water—including all inland waters—across Canada. Collectively, the organizations of the Canadian Coalition for Healthy Waters have hundreds of thousands of supporters from different walks of life, from coast to coast to coast.
The Canadian Coalition for Healthy Waters is a non-Indigenous led coalition.
Any statement or policy position coming from the Coalition does not speak for Indigenous Peoples.
What Unites Us
Protecting healthy waters requires a bold vision to shift the way we relate to, manage, and govern fresh water across the country.
This must be a collaborative effort that involves all levels of government, engages Canadians, and leverages the population’s wealth of scientific, ecological, and traditional water knowledge. The federal government has a critical role to play in leading this transformation, and the Canadian Coalition for Healthy Waters is united around advocating for the federal government to play a strong and appropriate leadership role.
The Five Foundational Pillars
The federal government can play a strong and appropriate leadership role in protecting and restoring waters across the country by mainstreaming the following cross-cutting foundational pillars in every aspect of the government’s many policy and institutional levers—including federal legislation, regulations, policies, institutions, and investments:
Advancing Reconciliation. Meaningfully advance the federal government’s commitment to reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples, including recognizing and upholding inherent Indigenous water rights and authority and fulfilling the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Supporting Knowledge Creation and Mobilization. Play a key role in creating and mobilizing the knowledge and tools – both Western and Indigenous – needed to understand, predict, and respond to water challenges and opportunities, particularly against the backdrop of climate change.
Strengthening Cooperative Federalism. Strengthen cooperative federalism around shared water decision-making and management among different levels of government, especially considering the transboundary nature of watersheds in Canada and the impacts of climate change.
Cultivating a Watershed Approach. Lead an approach that emphasizes the importance of watershed boundaries in all freshwater decision-making. The watershed approach takes into account interconnected ecological, social, economic, and cultural values that must be balanced to ensure the well-being of communities and ecosystems across the watershed.
Pursuing Deep Legislative Reform. Renew Canada’s outdated federal water laws and policies. This will involve engaging with a broad range of actors within and outside the federal government to conduct holistic analysis, and ensure renewed laws and policies provide the right tools and framework to safeguard the health of waters in Canada.
Advancing Reconciliation
As part of our approach to embodying the foundational pillar on Advancing Reconciliation, the Canadian Coalition for Healthy Waters:
Commits to not take or apply for funds that are designated for Indigenous led organizations.
Endeavors to not occupy space that should be occupied by Indigenous Peoples and to create space with decision makers for Indigenous Peoples.
Commits to make it clear in our materials that any statement or policy position coming from the Canadian Coalition for Healthy Waters does not speak for Indigenous Peoples.
Endeavors to align our policy positions with what Indigenous Peoples are asking of the federal government, recognizing that there are often multiple interests amongst the diversity of Indigenous nations within the country.
Our Asks
To support healthy waters in Canada, the Coalition advocates for three simple and effective actions from the federal government.
- Build a robust Canada Water Agency.
- Renew the over 50 year old Canada Water Act.
- Create a Canada Water Fund to invest $225 million a year in the health of waters in Canada.
Join Us
Add your organizational voice in support of healthy waters!