National Freshwater Data Strategy Workshop 2024
The Canada Water Agency (CWA) hosted the National Freshwater Data Strategy Workshop on September 25–26, 2024, at the Canada Centre for Inland Waters in Burlington, Ontario.
This pivotal event brought together experts, partners, and Indigenous representatives to begin shaping the future of freshwater data management in Canada. The Canada Water Agency is grateful to all the participants for their input.
Workshop highlights
Video
Watch the video summary of the workshop.
Video description and transcription
Feb 19, 2025
The Canada Water Agency (CWA) hosted the National Freshwater Data Strategy Workshop on September 25–26, 2024, at the Canada Centre for Inland Waters in Burlington, Ontario.
Transcription
Freshwater data is a fundamental supporting element of water science and policymaking in Canada. You know, water is life. In many places, water is more valuable than gold. It's incredible that we have people from across Canada coast to coast to coast to be here on the shores of Lake Ontario as we begin the work of the Canada Water Agency. It’s an exciting event. I would say it's our flagship event this year as we prepare to launch the Canada Water Agency.
We are bringing people from across the country to talk about freshwater data, how we can build a national strategy that will help make data more interoperable, accessible, usable for a whole range of partners and stakeholders across the country.
The importance of this symposium is to be in contact with people who are working as you also to protect the rivers, protect lakes, and to share data because we know that there's a lot of information outside, but we don't know how to get there, and now we are more like empowered to get there to know what we can do with that and also to collaborate together.
To be included in national discussions on open data of the national freshwater data strategy. Open data is really important to get information out to everyone. I'm very encouraged, just the fact that we're here, to be quite honest, the gathering of my fellow people here talking about water, the fact that the federal government is open to listening is a fantastic first step in my opinion. Our waters and our lands have been impacted severely. As is the capacity of First Nations to practice their water stewardship responsibilities.
We're looking at doing this from a number of perspectives, including being able to integrate into our work, First Nation, Metis and Inuit perspectives on knowledge and so that we have rich approach to how we can work together across the country in developing and implementing a strategy on freshwater data.
Being at this conference and seeing representatives of multiple organizations, including academia, the public sector, the private sector, and industry is a really great way to connect with others and bring that broader perspective to a freshwater data strategy and make sure that we are in alignment with what others are doing or what is key priorities.
Today we're in a day of reconciliation and trying to right those wrongs of the past and bring proper protocol to this country, we call Canada.
Purpose
The workshop was a step towards the goal of enabling Canadians to have access to high-quality freshwater data informing their decisions.
The workshop:
- Introduced the vision for a National Freshwater Data Strategy, focusing on inclusivity, accessibility, and collaboration.
- Gathered feedback and input to develop a National Freshwater Data Strategy for Canada.
- Identified challenges, opportunities, and priorities in freshwater data governance.
- Facilitated collaboration among diverse sectors, including:
- non-governmental organizations
- academia
- Indigenous partners; and
- government agencies
Description of Figure 1 - National Freshwater Data Strategy Vision and Principles
Vision
Working together to enable all Canadians to have access to the best available freshwater data to inform their decisions.
Core pillars
- Quality data
- Findable and accessible data
- Data stewardship
- Capacity building and mobilization
Foundational principles
- Trust and respect
- Communication and collaboration
Key findings
Participants expressed strong support for the proposed vision and emphasized the importance of ongoing collaborative efforts. The need for cross-jurisdictional collaboration with all levels of government and sectors was a key takeaway from the workshop as well.
Indigenous data sovereignty and meaningful engagement with rights holders were noted as important themes throughout the workshop. Coordination and leadership were captured as critical foundations for the strategy’s long-term success.
Some key challenges identified include:
- Fragmentation and Accessibility
- Data, particularly authoritative data, are difficult to find due to fragmentation across sectors and jurisdictions.
- Trust and Inclusion
- Building trust with Indigenous communities and other partners is critical. Data sovereignty and respectful partnerships must be prioritized.
- Quality and Standards
- Inconsistent data standards make data harder to use. Principles, guidelines, and standards are needed to address challenges to interoperability.
- Capacity Building
- Many organizations, especially smaller non-governmental organizations and community groups, lack the resources and training to effectively manage and share data.
- Coordination and Collaboration
- Canada’s water professionals come from different regions, professions, and perspectives. While water data may be coordinated in one area, that knowledge and capacity may not be adequately communicated to others.
Recommendations from participants
Workshop participants made recommendationsFootnote * to help shape the National Freshwater Data Strategy, including:
- Data Governance
- Address fragmentation and accessibility by establishing a federated data governance model to share data while respecting data ownership.
- Strengthen collaboration across jurisdictions to improve water management. The Government of Canada should show leadership in bringing people together.
- Develop a Water Data Community of Practice to share approaches and practices on data management including data licensing, tools and standards.
- Indigenous Communities and Knowledge
- Promote distinction-based approaches to recognize the value of community knowledge and explore how Indigenous-led data stewardship could be supported.
- Incorporate traditional knowledge into data governance frameworks while respecting cultural sensitivities.
- Data Standards and Quality
- Build a pathway to adopt internationally recognized standards or establish new ones for data collection and sharing.
- Promote the use of FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) principles and enhance metadata.
- Capacity Building and Tools
- Support training and funding in data collection, quality assurance, and long-term stewardship.
- Collaboration and Outreach
- Foster cross-sector partnerships, including non-governmental organizations, academia, and industry.
Next steps
The next steps are focused on further developing the National Freshwater Data Strategy under the leadership of the Canada Water Agency. This process will ensure that the strategy is comprehensive, inclusive, and reflective of the diverse needs across Canada.
- Establish a Data Working Group within the federal government to improve the Government of Canada’s coordination on the strategy.
- Work with provinces, territories, municipalities, and Indigenous partners to ensure broad representation in strategy development.
- Collaborate with experts to define the foundational elements of the strategy.
- Continue discussions with partners and stakeholders through regional meetings to identify key gaps and risks to be addressed within the strategy.
- Develop a draft strategy document.
- Host a second National Freshwater Data Strategy Workshop to gather consensus and endorsement on a draft strategy.
Publications and resources
Summary report
The high-level summary of the workshop is now available:
- Summary Report
- A comprehensive report is also available upon request.
Past engagements
Get involved
We value your input. Reach out to us at waterdata-donneessurleau@cwa-aec.gc.ca to:
- Request additional information.
- Provide feedback on the workshop findings.
- Participate in future engagements.
Together, we can ensure the sustainable stewardship of Canada’s freshwater resources.
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