Clean Water for First Nations: Is the Government Spending Enough?

Abstract

This report builds on the PBO’s 2017 report and responds to a request from Senator Renée Dupuis to examine budget sufficiency for First Nations water and wastewater systems on reserve.

Highlights

• Long-term drinking water advisories remain on First Nations reserves in 2021. Significant federal investments have recently been announced to improve on reserve water and wastewater infrastructure.

• PBO finds that the historical spending since 2016-2017 and planned spending until 2025-2026 is expected to be sufficient for capital requirements but not for operation and maintenance costs.