Ten years ago this fall, then-Liberal leader Justin Trudeau made a pledge to voters: that a Canadian government under his leadership would drastically improve water quality for Indigenous peoples.
“We have 93 different communities under 133 different boil-water advisories across the country,” Trudeau said at the October 2015 town hall; a number he agreed should be brought down to zero “within five years.”
Efforts to meet that pledge have drawn criticism from Indigenous leaders and the auditor-general’s office alike for insufficient federal support. Close to a decade on from the initial five-year pledge, there remain 35 long-term drinking water advisories across 33 reserves in Canada, federal data shows.
As the Trudeau era comes to an end, here’s a look at what has been done to end drinking water advisories, as well as the work that remains:
What is a DWA?
Drinking water advisories (DWAs) are issued when local authorities determine a community’s water supply is unsafe. While most municipal drinking water systems are the responsibility of provincial governments, those on First Nations are supported federally, through Indigenous Services Canada (ISC).
A DWA can be sparked by a single, large problem like a burst water line or chemical spill, or numerous localized issues, such as lead plumbing found in many individual buildings.
Advisories may require residents to boil water before use, typically for contaminants like bacteria or viruses; to avoid drinking or cooking with the water, often due to the presence of heavy metals like lead; or to refrain from using it for any purpose, such as when toxic chemicals have made the water unsafe to touch.
Once an advisory has been in place for a full year, it is considered a long-term DWA. Some can linger for years, or even decades, during which time residents may have to take additional daily precautions including regular boiling, purchasing bottled water for their homes or trucking in large supplies from outside their region.
In Neskantaga First Nation in northern Ontario, water was declared unsafe to drink in February 1995, and a boil water advisory has remained in effect for 30 years. ISC’s tracker shows that work is underway to ensure a new water treatment system is operating successfully, though as of the last update in August 2024, the timeline to lift the advisory remains to be determined.
What has been done about DWAs?
Before a DWA can be lifted, local authorities and their partners must resolve the underlying contamination, including by repairing or upgrading infrastructure, adjusting monitoring measures or improving training for operators. In some cases, a brand-new water treatment plant may be required.
In recent months, authorities in English River First Nation in Saskatchewan and Fort Severn First Nation in Ontario lifted long-term DWAs in their jurisdictions, following upgrades to their water treatment plants and staffing. Until last fall, the two nations were under DWAs for more than 500 and more than 1,000 days, respectively.
A March 2025 breakdown by ISC shows that 81 per cent of DWAs active in or after 2015 have since been lifted, and another nine per cent are expected to officially end soon, as the projects launched to address them are now complete. Projects to address another eight per cent of DWAs are under active construction, ISC says, with a final two per cent subject to projects in the early stages.
A Friday statement from the department notes that 670 water infrastructure projects have been completed to date, with another 783 more projects underway.
ISC says that since late 2015, 147 long-term DWAs have been lifted, though in that time, 79 new advisories have been declared long-term. From a starting list of 93, there are currently 33 communities still under a long-term DWA, nationwide.
What about that pledge?
By the time the deadline came for Trudeau’s original town-hall pledge, there remained 54 long-term DWAs in First Nations communities across the country, and in 2020, ISC data shows, the total actually grew, with 13 new advisories declared long-term and just 11 resolved.
A 2021 report from the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) found that ISC “did not provide the support necessary to ensure that First Nations communities have ongoing access to safe drinking water,” and noted that at the time, “almost half of the existing advisories (had been) in place for more than a decade.”
ISC acknowledged in late 2020 that the original commitment of zero advisories would not be reached on time, part of a problem the OAG report attributed in part to “an outdated policy and formula for funding” operations and maintenance.
“Let’s be clear, this is a process, not a single event,” said Marc Miller, then minister of Indigenous services, in a December 2020 press conference. “Today we are making ourselves accountable, we’re making future governments accountable. And, while there have been many reasons for the delay I want to state as clearly as possible, that ultimately I bear responsibility for this, and I have the responsibility, and the duty to get this done.”
With the acknowledgement came the announcement of $1.5 billion in additional funding to lift DWAs, no longer tied to a specific timeline, CTV News reported.
In a statement to CTVNews.ca Friday, Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak wrote that though progress was significant throughout the Trudeau years, numerous First Nations remain under DWAs, and the long-term sustainability of water quality is a pressing concern.
“Chronic underfunding of operations and maintenance costs must be addressed,” the statement reads. “Delays have been caused by inadequate funding, reliance on short-term solutions, and a lack of long-term investments. Without sustained funding, First Nations are forced into a recurring cycle of funding shortfalls and lack of access to clean water, issues that are never fully resolved.”
In its own Friday statement, ISC noted the complexity of water infrastructure projects, especially in remote communities, but said that its “focus is unwavering” on the goal of providing “effective and lasting solutions developed with First Nations to meet their needs.”
In the wake of Trudeau announcing that he would resign, organizations including the AFN and Chiefs of Ontario, where the largest total of DWAs remain, have urged the federal government to pass the First Nations Clean Water Act (Bill C-61), a 2023 bill that would affirm First Nations water rights, and establish regulatory standards and commitments to improve conditions and infrastructure.
The act is currently in limbo following the prorogation of Parliament earlier this year. Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu’s office told CTVNews.ca in a statement that while the bill’s future is “unknown,” they remain resolute in their work on water quality.
The AFN, meanwhile, looks toward opportunities with the government that follows Trudeau’s own.
“The Assembly of First Nations is ready to work with Prime Minister (Mark) Carney’s government to complete this essential work through long-term, sustainable funding arrangements,” Woodhouse Nepinak’s statement reads.
“We must work to improve Bill C-61 and move it through to Royal Assent—whether in this Parliament or the next … Together, we can ensure clean drinking water now and for future generations.”
With files from CTV News' Rachel Aiello and the Canadian Press
Correction
This article has been updated to fix a typo in the spelling of Neskantaga First Nation.
