Safe Water for First Nations

Nothing is more important than clean water.

Yet at any given time there are drinking water advisories in dozens of First Nations communities across Canada. The lack of clean, safe drinking water in First Nations is one of the greatest violations of the UN-recognized human rights to water and sanitation.

While there has been progress in recent years, as of early 2026 there are still 40 long term drinking water advisories on 37 communities, with 152 lifted since November 2015 (Indigenous Services Canada) including some that have been in place for more than 30 years. There is also a deficit in funding for the maintenance and operation of drinking water systems on reserves, which the Parliamentary Budget Officer identified as amounting to $138 million per year.

Instead, the Liberal government, first under Justin Trudeau and now Mark Carney, has promoted public-private partnerships (P3s) as a solution. History has shown that P3s not only cost more, but they also lead to the privatization of water and a loss of community control and jobs. P3s are not the answer to the drinking water crisis in First Nations.

The Council of Canadians fights for safe, clean water for everyone. We support Indigenous peoples’ right to self-government and self-determination. Greater control by and for First Nations over water is a basic step toward reconciliation, a requirement of  the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and a necessary precondition to ending drinking water advisories in First Nations for good.

30+ years

Some of the advisories date as far back as 1995. Remedies for Neskantaga First Nation’s boil water advisory — the longest in Canada — are not expected to be finished until Fall 2026.

July 2010

In 2010, the United Nations declared water and sanitation human rights, acknowledging they are essential to the realization of all other rights.

5,000

A single drinking water advisory can mean as many as 5,000 people lack access to safe, clean drinking water.

35 long-term advisories

As of the 2025 Auditor General report, including nine that have persisted for more than a decade. In 2025, the Auditor General rated Canada’s progress as “unsatisfactory.”

Lack of access to clean, safe drinking water in First Nations must be fixed for good.

Canada must uphold the human right to water which guarantees access to safe drinking water for all.

Thirty-seven Nations communities in Canada do not have access to safe drinking water. They have Drinking Water Advisories in place and cannot drink tap water unless it has been boiled first to sterilize it.

Some of these communities have been forced to boil all their drinking water for over thirty years! Entire generations have grown up without access to safe tap water.

Some progress was made under Justin Trudeau but there has been very little overall improvement. Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced his Liberal government plans to table a successor to Bill C-61 in the spring, though no timeline has been given. It is clear that the federal government has lost any sense of urgency for solving this problem.

Can you imagine any non-Indigenous community in Canada being forced to endure such conditions for decades? Neither can we. Join us in renewing public attention on this important issue and help us pressure the federal government to finally solve it.

TAKE ACTION

It’s time for our elected leaders to finally eliminate the remaining drinking water advisories.

While the Federal government pats itself on the back for making progress, dozens of First Nations communities are still waiting. We must keep up the pressure.

Long-term drinking water advisories with public systems on reserves

Long-term drinking water advisories
on public systems on reserves — ^{Source: Statistics Canada}

the problem

In Canada, the federal government has a special responsibility to make sure that people living on First Nations reserves have clean water to drink.

The treaties that we signed with First Nations long ago still bind us and they must be honoured.

Our First Nations treaty partners have not benefitted nearly as much as we have. We are all responsible for ensuring our governments respect and abide by the treaties.

For decades, the federal government has failed to provide enough money to build and operate the necessary water treatment equipment on many reserves.

In 2015, former Prime Minister Trudeau pledged to solve this issue within five years. He did not.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer warned that there remained important shortfalls in federal funding for the maintenance of existing water treatment equipment and for the training required to operate it.

We have to do better.

Make a splash this school year: Help turn schools blue!

Our new Blue Community Schools program, with Maude Barlow, 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.

Learn More