The Blue Communities Project encourages municipalities and Indigenous communities to support the idea of a water commons framework, recognizing that water is a shared resource for all, by passing resolutions that:
- Recognize water and sanitation as human rights.
- Ban or phase out the sale of bottled water in municipal facilities and at municipal events.
- Promote publicly financed, owned, and operated water and wastewater services.
The Council of Canadians, the Blue Planet Project and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) initiated the Blue Communities Project in 2009. Eau Secours is a partner on the Blue Communities Project in Quebec. The Blue Communities movement has grown internationally with Paris, France, Bern, Switzerland and other municipalities around the world going “blue.” Schools, religious communities and faith-based groups have also adopted principles that treat water as a common good that is shared by everyone and is the responsibility of all.
Help turn your community blue!
We invite you to become a part of the local and global movement for water security and justice by joining the Blue Communities Project – a joint initiative that furthers the work of local Water Watch coalitions across the country.
Learn what you can do as a community activist, public sector worker or municipal councillor to help protect the water commons – our shared water resources – in the face of increasing pressure to put water up for sale and privatize water services.
Make a splash this school year: Help turn schools blue!
With Maude Barlow
Our new Blue Community Schools program empowers educators, students, and schools to take action in protecting water as a human right. Join us in nurturing the next generation of Water Defenders in Canada.
Groups organizing Blue Communities
- Network of Water Rights Initiative
- Ecumenical Water Network Africa
- Blue Community Germany / Die Blue Communities in Deutschland
- Blue Communities in Latin America
- Blue Communities Spain
- Blue Community Switzerland / Blue Community Schweiz
- Blue Communities in the United States, Food and Water Watch
- Blue Communities Project Guide (Canada & U.S.) / le Guide pour le projet Communautés bleues (français)
- Eau Secours, Québec, Canada
- Federation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Canada
Blue Communities!
Blue School
July 4, 2022
Blue Communities International
January 1, 2020
Blue Ambassador
April 9, 2018
Blue Communities Canada
December 1, 2011
Blue Communities International
January 1, 2020
Blue Communities International
March 24, 2019
Blue Communities Canada
October 24, 2014
Blue Communities International
March 22, 2018
Blue Communities International
November 25, 2021
Blue University
Brescia University, London, Ontario became a Blue Community on March 22, 2021.
Blue Communities International
November 29, 2019
The Brussels Capital Region, representing 19 municipalities including the City of Brussels, agreed to co-sponsor the European Blue Communities meeting after voting to become a Blue Community in 2019.
To become a Blue Community, a local government or public institution must officially recognize water and sanitation as a human right, promote public water and wastewater services and phase out the sale of bottled water at municipal events. Brussels’ journey to becoming a Blue Community started in March 2018 by a group of IHECS students as part of a school project. The students, Aurélien De Bolster, Gabriel DeTheux, Martha Vandermeulen, Alexandre Van Hoek, Simon Verhoye and Lea Vromann were working on a school project related to water when they discovered the Blue Communities Project. Since then, the Blue Planet Project has supported their campaign together with our allies at the European Federation of Public Services Unions and Food and Water Europe. You can learn more about the journey of these students and their work to make Brussels a Blue Community here.
Congratulations Brussels Capital Region and the team at Brussels Blue Community for their tremendous efforts.
Pictured L-R: Meera Karunananthan (Blue Planet Project), Jonathan Bierman (Vivaqua), Minister-President of the Brussels Capital Region Rudi Vervoort, Maude Barlow and Brussels Blue Community représentatives Gabriel DeTheux, Lea Vromman, Martha Vandermeulan, Auréliens De Bolster, Alexandre Van Hoeke and Simon Verhoye.
Blue Communities International
January 21, 2022
Blue Communities Canada
March 22, 2011
The City of Burnaby, British Columbia, became Canada’s first Blue Community on World Water Day, March 22, 2011!
Blue Communities International
November 23, 2018
Blue Communities International
March 11, 2014
Blue Communities Canada
December 16, 2020
Blue Schools
March 24, 2020
The Cégep de Saint-Jérôme (CSTJ), is the first cégep college in Quebec to obtain a Blue Community certification!
Blue Communities Canada
March 22, 2019
Blue Communities International
September 26, 2016
Blue Communities Canada
October 4, 2012
Blue Communities Canada
January 15, 2020
Blue Communities Canada
July 9, 2012
Blue Communities International
June 4, 2021
Blue Communities Canada
December 8, 2015
Blue Community
February 20, 2024
Blue School
July 4, 2022
Blue Communities International
September 18, 2013
Blue Communities International
September 1, 2016
Blue Ambassadors
November 28, 2017
Blue Universities
May 13, 2016
Blue Communities Canada
December 10, 2017
Blue Communities International
December 21, 2022
Blue Communities International
March 22, 2022
Blue Communities International
September 10, 2019
Blue Communities International
March 22, 2022
Blue Community
April 4, 2024
Blue University
On World Water Day, March 22, 2022, we welcome our newest Blue Community: Huron College in London, Ontario! The students and administration have passed resolutions to support the human right to water, keep water public, and phase out bottled water sales on campus.
Blue Communities International
March 22, 2019
Blue Communities Canada
May 6, 2019
Blue Communities International
October 15, 2019
Blue Communities Canada
September 20, 2011
Blue School
May 22, 2019
Blue Communities International
October 19, 2023
Blue Communities International
October 19, 2023
Blue Communities Canada
March 2, 2020
Blue School
July 4, 2022
Blue Communities Canada
July 13, 2021
Le Domaine-du-Roy Regional County Municipality is the first to mobilize all its communities to be Blue Communities. It includes Chambord, Lac-Bouchette, La Doré, Saint-André-du-Lac-Saint-Jean, Saint-Félicien, Roberval (2019), Saint-François-de-Sales (2019), Sainte-Hedwidge and Saint-Prime. Lisez plus.
Blue Communities Canada
March 23, 2021
Blue Communities International
November 6, 2019
Los Angeles becomes first major U.S. city designated as a Blue Community
Los Angeles is now the first major city in the U.S. to turn “blue,” joining cities around the world including Paris, France, Bern, Switzerland and Montreal in Canada to take clear steps to protect public water services.
“Protecting our water must be a global project,” said Council of Canadians Honorary Chairperson Maude Barlow. “In the past 10 years we have seen this movement grow in Canada, Europe, South America, and now our made-in-Canada idea has made it in Los Angeles.”
The Blue Community initiative commits the city to recognizing water and sanitation as human rights, promoting safe water and wastewater services and to phasing out the sale of bottled water at municipal events.
In Los Angeles, Council member Paul Krekorian led the fight. “This designation recognizes the groundbreaking efforts Los Angeles has undertaken in the areas of water rights, water quality, access and conservation, while also committing ourselves to meeting the future water needs of all Angelenos.”
The Blue Communities Project launched in 2009 as a joint initiative of the Council of Canadians, the Blue Planet Project, and the Canadian Union of Public Employees. It encourages people to work with their local elected representatives to bring forward resolutions that treat water as a common good that is shared by everyone and is the responsibility of all. There are now more than 23 million people living in Blue Communities.
The Council of Canadians congratulates Los Angeles for prioritizing public water and becoming a Blue Community!
Blue Communities Canada
February 25, 2020
Blue Communities International
July 9, 2018
Blue Universities
March 22, 2019
Blue Communities International
March 22, 2019
Blue School
April 18, 2019
Blue Communities International
March 22, 2019
Blue School
World Water Day, March 22, 2023
Blue Communities International
October 18, 2017
Blue Communities Canada
June 25, 2012
Blue Communities International
March 12, 2018
Blue Community
May 1, 2024
NEWARI Becomes the First African NGO to Record Groundbreaking ‘Blue Community’ Designation, FountainCare Reporters, May 1, 2024
Blue Communities Canada
April 25, 2012
Blue Communities Canada
February 11, 2019
Blue Communities Canada
April 19, 2022
Blue Communities Canada
February 6, 2012
Blue Communities International
June 1, 2017
Blue Communities Canada
March 10, 2020
Blue Communities Canada
October 19, 2020
Blue Communities International
March 21, 2016
Blue Communities International
March 22, 2021
Blue Communities Canada
October 29, 2019
Blue Communities Canada
March 9, 2020
Blue Communities International
April 15, 2018
Blue University
Regis College, Toronto, Ontario became a Blue Community on April 19, 2023.
Blue Community
May 1, 2024
Blue Communities Canada
May 17, 2019
Blue Communities Canada
November 4, 2019
Blue University
January 24, 2024
Blue Communities Canada
January 23, 2020
Blue Communities Canada
April 11, 2022
Blue Communities Canada
April 22, 2021
Blue Communities Canada
December 9, 2019
Blue Communities Canada
November 6, 2019
Blue Communities Canada
June 4, 2019
Blue Communities Canada
June 5, 2019
Blue Communities International
January 1, 2020
Blue University
February 22, 2024
Saint-Louis University of UCLouvain, Brussels, Belgium became a Blue University.
Blue Community
October 10, 2023
Blue Communities Canada
June 29, 2021
Blue Community
June 20, 2023
A municipal association in Switzerland responsible for the water supply of twenty communities.
Blue Communities Canada
October 19, 2018
December 2, 2022
Blue Communities Canada
May 28, 2012
Blue Communities Canada
October 9, 2019
Blue Community
May 3, 2023
Blue Communities Canada
April 9, 2014
Blue Communities International
September 18, 2013
The City of Bern, Switzerland was designated the first Blue Community outside of Canada.
Blue Community
May 1, 2024
Blue Communities International
March 22, 2019
Blue Communities International
June 4, 2018
Blue Communities Canada
July 2, 2013
Blue Communities Canada
March 23, 2015
Blue Communities Canada
September 12, 2011
Blue Communities Canada
January 28, 2019
Blue Communities Canada
March 25, 2019
Blue Communities Canada
January 12, 2015
The Tsal’alh, St’át’imc Territory became the first Indigenous Blue Community!
Blue Communities International
January 1, 2020
Endorsement
February 26, 2020
Blue Universities
March 25, 2021
Blue Universities
September 26, 2016
Blue University
The University of St. Michael’s College, Toronto, Ontario became a Blue Community on April 19, 2023.
Blue Communities Canada
March 11, 2020
Blue Community
February 13, 2024
Blue University
Victoria College in the University of Toronto, Ontario became a Blue Community on October 12, 2023
Read more
Blue Communities Canada
June 24, 2011
Blue Communities Canada
September 4, 2019
Blue Community
July 30, 2024
Blue Communities Canada
November 6, 2012
Blue School
May 27, 2022
Blue Communities International
October 25, 2016
