Impact Stories

Canada goose flying over water | Bernache du Canada qui vole au-dessus de l'eau

Canadian Coalition for Healthy Waters Springs into Action!

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In early 2021, Our Living Waters (OLW) and the Forum for Leadership on Water (FLOW) championed a joint submission to the federal government to influence the creation of a Canada Water Agency. Building on this momentum, a new OLW Team has coalesced: the Canadian Coalition for Healthy Waters (CCHW). OLW Teams bring together member organizations within our Network to drive collective […]

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Four people are standing in a shallow river. One person brushes a rock while another holds it. Two others watch. They are dressed casually, and one holds a net. The setting is outdoors, with green vegetation in the background. / Quatre personnes se tiennent dans une rivière peu profonde. Une personne brosse une roche pendant quune autre la tient. Deux autres regardent. Elles sont habillées de façon décontractée, et lune delles tient un filet. Lenvironnement est extérieur, avec de la végétation verte en arrière-plan. .

Business Case for Investing in Community-Based Water Monitoring

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More than 150 community-based water monitoring (CBWM) groups are actively monitoring changes in their watersheds and informing freshwater decision-making across Canada. Monitoring programs reflect a diversity of water conditions and landscapes, varying in purpose and size to address specific community needs. Yet, they all rely on consistent, adequate funding to keep their volunteers and data collection afloat!   For years

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Alt text: Map highlighting the Great Lakes region with data points in blue circles showing various numbers. The map includes parts of the United States and Canada, with notable concentrations near Lake Michigan and Lake Ontario. / Carte mettant en évidence la région des Grands Lacs avec des points de données sous forme de cercles bleus indiquant divers nombres. La carte inclut des parties des États-Unis et du Canada, avec des concentrations notables près du lac Michigan et du lac Ontario.

DataStream Moves Towards Pan-Canadian Coverage with Great Lakes on Board

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Carolyn DuBois lives in the Toronto area. She loves her home, and has a soft spot for the Humber River. As the Executive Director of the Water Program for the Gordon Foundation, she’s been a key player in the expansion of DataStream, a platform for sharing open data on freshwater health. I spoke to Carolyn just

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**Alt Text:** A barefoot adult and a toddler holding hands walk on a wet sandy beach. The toddler wears a navy top and pink shorts. Reflections of clouds and the shoreline are visible on the sand. **Translation:** Un adulte pieds nus et un tout-petit se tenant par la main marchent sur une plage de sable mouillé. Le tout-petit porte un haut bleu marine et un short rose. Des reflets de nuages et du rivage sont visibles sur le sable./Un adulte pieds nus et un tout-petit se tenant par la main marchent sur une plage de sable mouillé. Le tout-petit porte un haut bleu marine et un short rose. Des reflets de nuages et du rivage sont visibles sur le sable.

Our Living Waters & Canadian Freshwater Alliance: Shared Goals, Different Ways of Getting There

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The Canadian Freshwater Alliance and the Our Living Waters Network are sister projects with a shared goal: for all waters in Canada to be in good health. Besides this shared goal, we have other things in common: both initiatives are projects on MakeWay’s shared platform. Both projects work together quite closely. And, we have overlapping networks

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Two lakes side by side in the Rockies in Alberta with mountains in the background | Deux lacs côte à côte dans les Rocheuses, en Alberta, avec les montagnes en arrière-plan

Learning from failure: our project on watershed entities and plans

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Projects never go quite as planned, even in the best of times. And virtually nothing went as planned in 2020. But even projects that don’t hit their deliverables, that fizzle out, that ultimately end in failure, can be rich learning experiences. In early 2020, Our Living Waters and the Forum for Leadership on Water embarked on

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Alt text: People enjoying a sunny day at a beach area, some swimming in the water, others relaxing on the pebble shore. The scene includes a pier, lifebuoys, and distant greenery under a clear blue sky. / Des gens profitent dune journée ensoleillée sur une plage; certains nagent dans leau tandis que dautres se détendent sur le rivage de galets. La scène comprend un quai, des bouées de sauvetage et une végétation lointaine sous un ciel bleu clair.

Training a Team of Sewage Investigators

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Swim Drink Fish Canada has been engaging the public in education and advocacy, raising awareness about combined sewer overflows for almost 20 years.  During the unprecedented summer of 2020, those seeking respite gathered at beaches across Canada to find solace in their home waterbodies. Travel restrictions meant many people were exploring their local waters, some

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Bridge and buildings in Montreal Quebec, with many urban forested areas (in autumn colours) interspersed amongst them | Pont et bâtiments à Montréal, au Québec, avec de nombreuses zones forestières urbaines (aux couleurs automnales) disséminées parmi eux

A Green Infrastructure Community of Practice Envisions ‘Living Cities’ Across Canada

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Green infrastructure has been an Our Living Waters Network priority issue for the past several years. In response, the Our Living Waters 2030 Fund has provided ongoing funding to a team that works to advance local action on green infrastructure.  Green infrastructure has been an Our Living Waters Network priority issue for the past several years. In

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Alt text: People walking along a rocky stream in a forested area. A yellow sign on the right warns about a scientific study in progress and the presence of endangered Atlantic salmon, asking people not to disturb the area. / Des personnes marchent le long dun ruisseau rocailleux dans une zone boisée. Un panneau jaune à droite avertit quune étude scientifique est en cours et signale la présence de saumons atlantiques en danger, demandant aux gens de ne pas perturber la zone.

Groundtruthing and filling water data gaps in Atlantic Canada

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Image above: The Portapique River in Nova Scotia where salmon eggs have been introduced in-stream to increase the population of endangered Inner Bay of Fundy (iBoF) Atlantic Salmon. The Maritime Aboriginal Peoples Council (MAPC) are monitoring water quality to identify areas of habitat concern for this culturally and environmentally significant species. Photo by Aislin Livingstone

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Alt Text: A group of diverse hands cupping together over water, with droplets falling into the lake below. The hands are close, symbolizing unity and cooperation. / Un groupe de mains diverses accolées ensemble au-dessus de leau, avec des gouttelettes tombant dans le lac en dessous. Les mains sont proches, symbolisant lunité et la coopération.

Our Collective Vision for the Canada Water Agency: A Joint Submission

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The government of Canada is creating a new Canada Water Agency and, as is often the nature of such emerging institutions, the details of what it will be are not yet known. Here is a quick outline of the process to date: First announced in the Liberal Party of Canada’s 2019 election platform, the CWA

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