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.
Overview
It is important that freshwater policies be kept current, as such policies set out the vision, direction and measures governments use to achieve the targets of SDG 6, the goals of the Water Action Decade, and other freshwater objectives.
This version of the impact measure expands upon a 2019 version by considering not just whether governments have current freshwater policies but also whether they have freshwater laws that are up to date. This expansion of what is considered in the impact measure reflects the fact that it is not just policies that determine a government’s commitment to freshwater sustainability but also the related laws it puts in place.
Status of freshwater policies and laws in Canadian federal/provincial/territorial governments, January 2023
|
Jurisdiction |
Name and date of freshwater policy |
Current freshwater policy? |
Name and date of freshwater law enactment or last major revision |
Current freshwater law? |
|
Canada |
Federal water policy, 1987 |
No |
Canada Water Act, 1985 |
No |
|
British Columbia |
Living Water Smart, 2008 |
No |
Water Sustainability Act, 2014 |
Yes |
|
Alberta |
No |
Water Act, 2000 |
No |
|
|
Saskatchewan |
No |
No specific freshwater law |
No |
|
|
Manitoba |
Yes |
The Water Protection Act, 2005 |
No |
|
|
Ontario |
No specific freshwater policy |
No |
Clean Water Act, 2006 |
No |
|
Quebec |
Yes |
An Act to affirm the collective nature of water resources and to promote better governance of water and associated environments, enacted 2009, amended 2011 |
No |
|
|
New Brunswick |
Yes |
Clean Water Act, 1989 |
No |
|
|
Nova Scotia |
No |
No |
||
|
Prince Edward Island |
Watershed Strategy, 2015 |
Yes |
Water Act, 1988 |
No |
|
Newfoundland and Labrador
|
No specific freshwater policy |
No |
Water Resources Act, 2002 |
No |
|
Yukon |
Water for Nature, Water for People: Yukon Water Strategy and Action Plan, 2014 |
Yes |
Waters Act, 2003 |
No |
|
Northwest Territories |
Northern Voices, Northern Waters NWT Water Stewardship Strategy, 2010 |
No |
Waters Act, 2014 |
Yes |
|
Nunavut |
No specific freshwater policy |
No |
Nunavut Waters and Nunavut Surface Rights Tribunal Act, 2002 |
No |
Our full analysis on this impact measure can be found here.
Last updated January 2023