Sustainable Development Goal 6: Clean water and sanitation

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6^{Footnote 1} aims to ensure access to safe water sources and sanitation for all. SDG 6 goes beyond drinking water, sanitation and hygiene. It also addresses the quality and sustainability of water resources, critical to the survival of people and the planet. The 2030 Agenda recognizes the centrality of water resources to sustainable development. Improved drinking water, sanitation and hygiene are vital to driving progress in other areas, including health, education and poverty reduction.

Canadian ambition under clean water and sanitation

Canada's ambition^{Footnote 2} for this goal is to ensure everyone in Canada has access to drinking water and use it in a sustainable manner. The national target is for all of the long-term drinking water advisories on public systems on First Nation reserves to be resolved.

Measuring Progress: The Canadian Indicator Framework

In collaboration with federal departments and agencies, Statistics Canada has developed the Canadian Indicator Framework (CIF) for the Sustainable Development Goals. The CIF includes 76 indicators specific to Canada, which measure progress using a set of nationally relevant, objective and comprehensive indicators. CIF indicators for SDG 6 are:

Number of long-term drinking water advisories on public systems on reserves
Percentage of municipalities across Canada with sustained drinking water advisories
Water use growth rate
Water quality in Canadian rivers

What we are doing to improve clean water and sanitation in Canada

In Canada, the responsibility for providing clean, safe and reliable drinking water to the public generally rests with the provinces and territories, while municipalities usually oversee the day-to-day operations of the treatment facilities. The Government of Canada:

leads the development of the Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality
provides scientific and technical expertise to the provincial and territorial governments
supports their responsibilities through shared investments in water and wastewater infrastructure
shares responsibility for ensuring the safety of drinking water supplies on federal lands, in federal facilities, and in First Nations communities

A key component of the Government of Canada's commitment to close the socio-economic gaps that exist between Indigenous and most non-Indigenous peoples in Canada is to address the challenges in accessing clean water and sanitation in First Nation communities. Through investments since 2016, the Government of Canada has made over $5.6 billion in commitments to First Nations to build and repair water and wastewater infrastructure and support effective management and maintenance of water systems on reserves. Investments also support water operator training and innovative First Nations-led technical service delivery models.

As of September 30, 2023, more than $3.60 billion of targeted funds have been invested to support 1,244 water and wastewater projects, of which 547 are now complete and 591 are ongoing. These projects will serve 471,000 people in 591 First Nations communities. Of the 1,244 water and wastewater projects, a total of 975 projects are new water and wastewater treatment plants or lagoons, or renovations and upgrades to existing water and wastewater systems. Since November 2015 and as of November 29, 2023, First Nations, with support from the Government of Canada, have lifted 143 long-term drinking water advisories and 267 short-term drinking water advisories on reserve. Initiatives are underway to address all remaining long-term drinking water advisories on public systems on reserves.

Over the past 5 years, the government of Canada has implemented a number of programs and initiatives to ensure that all Canadians have access to clean and safe water. For example, the Canada Community-Building Fund and the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program fund water and wastewater projects

Clean water for human health is also an essential component to a healthy environment. Healthy river ecosystems rely on clean water. The quality of water and the health of rivers may be affected by how people develop and use the surrounding land. From 2018 to 2020, water quality in rivers in Canada was rated fair to excellent at 83% of the monitored sites. The Government of Canada routinely reports on the status and trends in ambient water quality. The related data is made publicly available, which helps inform decision makers, stakeholders and Canadians.

The new Canada Water Agency will work together with the provinces, territories, Indigenous communities, local authorities, scientists and others to find the best ways to keep Canada's water safe, clean and well-managed.

Working with First Nations

Ensuring access to safe drinking water for First Nations living on reserves must be addressed in full partnership with First Nations.

Drinking water advisories are unique to each situation. Where drinking water advisories remain, the federal government is working with each community to find the most appropriate solution. In the end, the decision to put in place a particular solution is made by the First Nation's leadership.

Development of a new proposed First Nations drinking water and wastewater legislation, in consultation with First Nations, is ongoing. New proposed legislation would create a sustainable legal foundation for clean and safe drinking water in First Nations communities.

What Canada is doing to improve clean water and sanitation abroad

Through the Feminist International Assistance Policy, the Government of Canada is working with international partners to promote access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) and to support sustainable water management practices around the world, including through advocacy at United Nations forums.

In 2010, Canada supported United Nations General Assembly Resolution 64/292. For the first time, this recognized the human right to water and sanitation, and that clean drinking water and sanitation are essential to the realization of all human rights. Canada's international assistance from 2000 to 2022 for water and sanitation initiatives totaled over $1.9 billion. Canada was also a co-sponsor of UN Resolution 71/222, establishing a UN Decade for Action on "Water for Sustainable Development'' (2018 to 2028).

WASH services are often unavailable in many schools and health care facilities in low- and middle-income countries. This lack of access disproportionately impacts women and girls. Access to WASH is essential for their physical safety and security, their social and economic development, their sexual and reproductive health, as well as their human dignity.

The Government of Canada integrates WASH within health, humanitarian, nutrition, and sexual and reproductive health and rights programming, and in its COVID-19 response. WASH efforts are also mainstreamed into Canada's 10-Year Commitment to Global Health and Rights (2020 to 2030), which provides an average of $1.4 billion per year, starting in 2023, to advance the health and rights of women and girls. This includes WASH funding related to menstrual health and hygiene. For example, Canada is providing $1.9 million to the Centre for Water and Sanitation Technology to implement the Women-Led WASH for Healthy Homes initiative in Ethiopia (2022 to 2026). This initiative aims to improve the health and wellbeing of 77,348 women, girls, men and boys through interventions focused on building positive knowledge, skills and behaviours around WASH.

Canada is also contributing $10 million to the Gender Equal Nutrition in Tanzania and Uganda (GENTU) project (2023 to 2028) in partnership with Action Against Hunger Canada and local partners to improve nutrition for over 120,000 women and girls. The GENTU project aims to improve and sustain nutrition outcomes through a multi-sector approach that addresses the key determinants of malnutrition, including through WASH interventions targeting individuals, communities, health service providers, and the broader health system.

Canada also supports developing countries in addressing water management and the increasing threats to water security as a result of climate change and biodiversity loss through its international assistance envelope. This includes a number of initiatives across Latin America, Africa, Europe and Asia, such as:

$16 million to the Natural Infrastructure for Water Security in Peru (2018 to 2023) which aims to promote the conservation, restoration, and rehabilitation of natural ecosystems to improve Peru's water security and climate risk resilience
$12.5 million through the Canadian Climate Fund for the Private Sector in the Americas (2019 to 2044) to support irrigation and water management systems in Nicaragua
$10 million (2020 to 2025) to support the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) which aims to improve global water governance in developing countries through applied research and delivery of education and training services

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Date modified:: 2024-05-01

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