Water Quality Program
In Canada, the responsibility for making sure drinking water supplies and recreational water areas are safe is shared between the federal, provincial, territorial, and municipal governments.
Health Canada works in partnership with the provinces, territories and other federal departments to develop drinking and recreational water quality guidelines.
Health Canada does not:
- advise on individual medical and health concerns
- test municipal or private well water
- test beach water quality or issue swimming advisories
- advise on specific brands or models of water treatment devices
- set regulations for water quality and safety
If you have medical problems, questions or concerns, you should contact your health care provider, such as a family doctor, nurse practitioner or your community health clinic.
Most requested topics
If you have questions on substances in water (like arsenic, e. coli, hydrogen sulphide), see our webpage on drinking water and health.
For information on treatment devices, see our questions and answers on drinking water treatment devices page.
Private well owners are responsible for testing and ensuring that their water is safe. Some municipalities offer low-cost or free testing. For more information, see our webpage on well water and health.
If you have questions on recreational water, visit our webpage on recreational water and health.
To receive news about Health Canada notices of consultation and final technical publications for drinking and recreational water, subscribe to the Water quality stakeholder registry.
If your question is not covered on our website, please contact us by filling out the form below. If you can’t use the form below, please email us at water-eau@hc-sc.gc.ca or reach us by telephone at 1-833-223-1014. When contacting us by phone or email, please provide your province or municipality so we can serve you better.
Contact Us Form
Privacy Notice
The personal information you provide to Health Canada will be collected by the Water and Air Quality Bureau under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act andhandled in accordance with the Privacy Act.
Why are we collecting your personal information? Personal information is collected for the purpose of responding to your query/comments, and to gather feedback on our Internet suite of products and services.
What happens if you don’t want to provide your personal information? Provision of the information requested on this form is voluntary; however, if you choose not to provide it, we may be unable to respond to your query or comments, and your feedback may not be included in our efforts to improve our products and services.
What are your rights? You have the right to access and request a correction and/or notation to your personal information. You also have a right to complain to the Privacy Commissioner of Canada if you feel your personal information has been handled improperly. For more information about these rights, or about how we handle your personal information, please contact water-eau@hc-sc.gc.ca.
For more information: The collection of your personal information is described in Info Source at infosource.gc.ca. Refer to the personal information bank (PIB) entitled Public Communications (PSU 914).
The transmission of this information is not secure and so sensitive personal information, for example, your Social Insurance Number, should not be included in your message.