The House of Commons Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development's newly released report, Sustaining Canada's Freshwater for Today and Tomorrow, outlines recommendations to strengthen Canada's freshwater future, informed by testimony from leading researchers and experts across the country.
Among those invited to testify and cited in the report was Dr. Roy Brouwer, Professor in the School of Economics at the University of Waterloo, who testified on the socioeconomic values of freshwater use in Canada.
Brouwer shared evidence on water use, exploitation and waste of our valuable freshwater resources, highlighting the need for improved data collection on water use, awareness raising and financial incentives to promote more sustainable water use and management.
In response to issues raised during Dr. Brouwer's testimony, the Committee recommended that the Government of Canada establish a fund through the Federation of Canadian Municipalities for water system diagnostics to assist municipalities in better detecting system leaks and other weaknesses in advance before failures occur, demonstrating the potential policy impact of evidence-informed research.
Read more: New parliamentary report highlights Water Institute expertise in shaping Canada's freshwater future