CEO Update

Welcome to our summer edition of News Splash. Summer has come in with a vengeance in many parts of Canada. Wildfires have scorched millions of acres of forest, displaced thousands of our fellow Canadians and impaired the air quality of millions more. The federal government is now considering the creation of a Disaster Response Agency like FEMA in the US.

These unprecedented events are reminders of the need to make our cities climate resilient. In this edition of News Splash, our thought leader interview brings insights from the City of Vancouver’s Jimmy Zammar on how the city's Rain City Strategy is building resiliency from the neighbourhood up. Our innovation in action feature brings insights from GHD’s Gemma Dunn on the collaboration needed for effective urban water management and resiliency.

From there, you’ll see what an exciting quarter CWN has had and what we've been up to. The Canadian Municipal Water Consortium co-hosted an in-person Leaders’ Roundtable with the City of Hamilton in early May. The Public Health Agency of Canada also announced funding to support CWN and NCCID’s new wastewater surveillance program for public health practitioners and the program’s kick-off summit in Winnipeg just a few weeks ago.

It feels great to be back face-to-face with our members and program participants. Nothing can substitute the energy in a room, the buzz in the hallways, and the relationship-building and knowledge-sharing across the country. That is why we are excited about the return of Blue Cities in person this fall from October 24-25 in downtown Toronto. Please check out Blue Cities News in this newsletter. For more information about registering for this not-to-be missed event, please visit the conference website.

I wish you all a safe and healthy summer.

Nicola Crawhall
CEO, CWN

Blue Cities News

Blue Cities is a focal point for dialogue and collaboration amongst decision makers in local government, the private sector, researchers, knowledge and technology providers, as well as other levels of government and government agencies.

The 2023 program will focus on strategic issues of importance related to municipal water management and public health protection.

Discussion topics will include:

• Collaborating across sectors, including the water and public health sectors, to keep communities healthy and safe.
• Water service delivery and city planning to meet urban growth projections, build climate resiliency, and promote equity and affordability.
• Urban reconciliation: relationship-building and engagement among water utilities, public health services and Indigenous residents.
• The promise and complexity of environmental surveillance as a tool in public health protection.
• Learning about sectoral trends, sharing promising practices, fostering inter-jurisdictional collaboration and more!

Register by August 31 to take advantage of the early bird registration rate.

We are grateful to our sponsors who have come on board early. It’s not too late! There are still sponsorship opportunities available. If your organization or company is interested in sponsoring Blue Cities, please contact CWN's Corporate Events Manager Jennifer Cowie at jennifer.cowie@cwn-rce.ca.

Thought Leader Interview

City of Vancouver's Rain City Strategy

This edition’s thought leader interview features Jimmy Zammar, the City of Vancouver’s director of integrated strategy and utilities planning, who shares his experience in implementing the city’s Rain City Strategy.

Innovation in Action

Beyond boundaries: Harnessing collaboration to serve city water needs 

Municipalities across Canada are facing numerous challenges, including population growth, aging infrastructure and degraded ecosystem health, while also needing to improve social equity and reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, and foster economic growth. Climate change is exacerbating these already difficult challenges.  

Inaction comes at a cost. GHD’s Aquanomics report highlights that floods, droughts and major storms could cost the Canadian economy $139 billion over the next 30 years. It is increasingly recognized that we need to do things differently in the water sector, but a common concern amongst Canadian municipalities is knowing where to start. There are some lessons we can learn from municipal frontrunners such as Melbourne and Rotterdam. 

CWN News

CWN is growing

We’re happy to share that Deborah Van Dyk (pictured left) and Talia Glickman (pictured right) have joined CWN's wastewater-based surveillance program team.

New Board member

Ricky Soni has joined CWN's Board of Directors. He is an experienced director in KPMG’s government solutions consulting practice.

Federal News

Government of Canada addressing PFAS in draft report

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are widely used chemicals that can be found in the environment, water and air. Now, the Government of Canada has discovered PFAS in the blood of Canadians, confirming the need for adequate assessment of sources and impacts of PFAS on the environment and human health.

International News

Spanish government hands out over €2 billion to help farmers and consumers navigate drought

Parts of Europe have recently experienced drier conditions in early spring due to warmer temperatures, extremely low rainfall and low snowfall in the past winter. The continent is facing a severe water shortage, and there have been discussions of declaring a “drought emergency” in some places like Catalonia that have been brutally impacted.

Funding Opportunities