Everyone in Canada should have access to clean and safe drinking water. First Nations have long called for legislation that affirms their inherent rights, sets minimum standards for water services, recognizes their stewardship in keeping water clean, and meets their needs. Effective legislation, a national regulatory regime, and First Nations-led institutions are essential to supporting sustainable access to clean, safe and reliable drinking water in First Nations communities.
Today, the Honourable Mandy Gull-Masty, Minister of Indigenous Services, introduced Bill C-37, the proposed First Nations Clean Water Act, in the House of Commons, alongside the largest single commitment ever made for First Nations water - $4.6 billion in targeted funding for water and wastewater in First Nation communities.
The Government of Canada worked directly with First Nation rights-holders, including Modern Treaty and Self-Governing First Nations, through their own representative organizations, to help ensure the Bill is responsive to First Nations' needs and priorities. The proposed First Nations Clean Water Act builds on more than six years of consultations, engagement and parliamentary study of the former Bill C-61.
Currently, First Nations communities do not have legally enforceable safe drinking water protections - this legislative gap is unacceptable. Bill C-37 will help address this long-standing gap by making sure that the kinds of protections available in non-Indigenous communities are also available on First Nation lands.
The proposed First Nations Clean Water Act advances the progressive realization of the internationally recognized human right to safe drinking water on First Nation lands, with the legislation as a whole creating a practical pathway toward achieving that objective.
Bill C-37 will affirm that the inherent right of First Nations to self-government includes jurisdiction over water on, in and under their lands. It will require that drinking water standards at least meet the guidelines set out in the Guidelines for Canadian Drinking
Water Quality or at least meet provincial or territorial drinking water standards. Similarly, it will require that wastewater effluent standards at least meet the standards set out in the federal Wastewater Systems Effluent Regulations or at least meet provincial or territorial wastewater effluent standards.
In addition, we will support the development of regulations in consultation with First Nations governing bodies. This will allow First Nations to administer and enforce their own water laws on-reserve - which may go beyond the minimum standards if nations make that choice for their community.
The legislation will also create more ways to collaborate between First Nations, the federal government, and provinces and territories when it comes to water adjacent to First Nation lands, while respecting the authority of all jurisdictions.
It will also strengthen First Nations-led governance through the creation of a First Nations-led water commission, and the legislation would establish clear federal responsibilities and strengthen accountability.
Furthermore, the legislation would require Canada to work with First Nations to co-develop a long-term funding framework, helping ensure communities have the resources needed to build, operate, maintain and upgrade water systems over time, recognizing that sustainable access to safe drinking water requires long-term investment, not one-time funding.
To support the implementation of this new framework and help ensure communities have the resources needed to meet its objectives, the Government of Canada is committing a historic investment of an additional $4.6 billion in targeted funding, building on the over $9.4 billion committed since 2015.
These investments are making a real difference. The funding committed prior to today is helping bring clean water to approximately 483,000 people in 595 communities, including through improvements to more than 10,000 homes and 700 public buildings.
This new funding is critical to meeting community needs, supporting the lifting of remaining long-term drinking water advisories, and making sure that new standards are matched with the resources needed to implement them.
Together, this legislation and historic investment will advance the progressive realization of the human right to safe drinking water, help close long-standing regulatory and funding gaps, uphold First Nations rights and jurisdiction, strengthen First Nations-led water governance, and support reliable access to clean and safe drinking water for generations to come.
