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Jurisdictional responsibilities
Canada is a federation. As in many areas of Canadian life, this means different levels of government have different jurisdictional roles related to water management, while there are also many areas of shared commitment.
Canadian provinces and one of the territories have the primary jurisdiction over most areas of water management and protection. Most of those governments delegate certain authorities to municipalities, especially the drinking water treatment and distribution and wastewater treatment operations of urban areas. They may also delegate some water resource management functions to local authorities that may be responsible for a particular area or river basin. Most major uses of water in Canada are permitted or licensed under provincial water management authorities.
Federal jurisdiction applies to the conservation and protection of oceans and their resources, fisheries, navigation, and international relations, including responsibilities related to the management of boundary waters shared with the United States. The federal government also has responsibilities for managing water in its own "federal house," which includes federal lands (e.g., National Parks), federal facilities (e.g., office buildings, labs, penitentiaries, military bases), First Nation reserves, as well as two of Canada's three territories (Nunavut and Northwest Territories).
Shared federal-provincial responsibilities include:
- agriculture;
- significant national water issues; and
- health.
In practice, all orders of government, communities, the private sector, and individual Canadians have responsibilities and make decisions every day that influence the health and sustainability of freshwater resources.
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