Through the Great Lakes Sustainability Fund (GLSF), the Government of Canada supports projects to clean up each of Canada’s 12 remaining Areas of Concern or “degraded areas” within the Great Lakes Basin.
Since 2006, the GLSF has contributed approximately $23 million to more than 400 partnered projects to improve water quality in these areas. This includes more than $2.8 million for over 30 new projects in 2015-16.
Areas of Concern have been designated by the Governments of Canada and the United States through the Canada-United States Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. Of the 17 Areas of Concern originally identified on the Canadian side of the Great Lakes, three have been fully restored. In a further two, we have completed remedial actions and are monitoring environmental recovery prior to removing these sites from the list. In all other Canadian Areas of Concern, actions to restore water quality and ecosystem health are well advanced. By 2019, we anticipate being able to complete all required remedial actions in a further five Canadian Areas of Concern.
