Provincial Government

Provincial governments are responsible for regulating and protecting water quality, regulating drinking water systems and making resource use and allocation decisions. In recent years, provincial governments have invested significant resources into the development of water policies. For example, many have written recent comprehensive policy frameworks to guide sustainable water practices including such as the Alberta Water for Life Strategy (2003), the Quebec National Water Strategy (2002), and most recently the B.C. Living Water Smart plan (2008). Ontario has also been leading the way on source water protection with the Clean Water Act (2006) and Manitoba has created the only stand-alone water Ministry in Canada.