Enforceable Water Quality Standards

Measures the number of provinces and territories that have enforceable surface water quality standards

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 info@ourlivingwaters.ca.

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.

Jurisdiction	Surface water quality standards	Enforceable?
Canada	Canadian Environmental Quality Guidelines (CEQGs)	No
British Columbia	British Columbia Approved Water Quality Guidelines: Aquatic Life, Wildlife & Agriculture	No
Alberta	Environmental Quality Guidelines for Alberta Surface Waters	No
Saskatchewan	Surface Water Quality Objectives	No
Manitoba	Water Quality Standards, Objectives, and Guidelines	No
Ontario	No specific surface water quality standards	n/a
Quebec	Critères de qualité de l’eau de surface	No
New Brunswick	No specific surface water quality standards	n/a
Nova Scotia	No specific surface water quality standards	n/a
Prince Edward	No specific surface water quality standards	n/a
Newfoundland and Labrador	No specific surface water quality standards	n/a
Yukon	No specific surface water quality standards	n/a
Northwest Territories	No specific surface water quality standards	n/a
Nunavut	No specific surface water quality standards	n/a

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

Last updated January 2022

Number of provinces and territories with enforceable surface water quality standards

40%

Number of jurisdictions in Canada (provincial, territorial, or federal governments) with enforceable surface water quality standards

Provinces or territories with enforceable surface water quality standards

Surface water quality standards exist and are enforceable

Surface water quality standards exist, although they are not enforceable

Surface water quality standards do not exist

The Ontario Salt Pollution Coalition

Wings & Water

OLW and the UN Sustainable Development Goals

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Note: The data presented here represents our best research given the time and resources at hand. We acknowledge there may be errors. This shared measurement system belongs to all members of the Our Living Water Network, so if you have any corrections for us, or ideas to share on this measure, please send us an email at info@ourlivingwaters.ca.