It’s important to be transparent that this Shared Measurement System was designed from a non-Indigenous worldview and we recognize that Indigenous ways of knowing are absent from it. For more information on this positioning, see our Right Relations page.

Getting data to report on this impact measure is a work in progress. This Shared Measurement System belongs to all members of the Our Living Waters Network, so if you have any data or ideas to share with us on this measure, please send us an email at [email protected].

Overview

Many factors influence the quality of lakes, rivers, wetlands and other surface waters. Determining the quality of surface water therefore requires consideration of variables measuring a wide variety of characteristics. These include, among others, temperature, acidity, clarity and concentrations of various compounds.

Of the 14 federal, provincial, and territorial governments in Canada, six were found to have surface water quality standards in place as of November 2021 (Canada, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Quebec). The remaining jurisdictions were found not to have water quality standards in place. Of the six jurisdictions with standards in place, none had a standard that was considered legally enforceable. Five of the six standards were explicitly said not to be enforceable by the government responsible (Canada, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Quebec). Manitoba’s standard, though backed up by regulation, was not considered enforceable because only the part of the standard dealing with effluent water quality was backed up by penalties.

Our full analysis for this impact measure can be found here.

Last updated January 2022