Water Quality and Health Bureau

Health Canada is the lead federal department conducting science related to the effects of water contaminants on human health. The Water Quality and Health Bureau conducts health risk assessments, which support the development of:

• The guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality, as well as Emergency Health Advisories and Guidance Values for drinking water contaminants;
• The Guidelines for Canadian Recreational Water Quality;
• International health-based standards for drinking water materials;
• Source water quality indicators; and
• Guidelines for grey-water re-use.

All jurisdictions in Canada use this federal science as a basis for establishing their own enforcement requirements for drinking water quality. Strong FPT collaboration, via the Federal-Provincial-Territorial Committee on Drinking Water, is an essential component of the guidelines development process.

The Water Quality and Health Bureau plays a key role in the development of national and federal policies, strategies and framework to better protect human health, in collaboration with many partners. The Bureau:

• Has collaborated on the development of the Multi-barrier approach to safe drinking water, including the preparation for guidance in areas of federal jurisdiction;
• Is participating in the identification of research priorities for water quality, and
• Is working with its partners to develop an approach to address incidents of waterborne contamination and waterborne illnesses.