The Ontario Society of Professional Engineers (OSPE) is calling on the province to take a more coordinated, engineering-led approach to water infrastructure as climate change, aging systems and population growth place increasing strain on water services across Ontario.
In a position statement released December 11, OSPE said water is an essential public service and a foundation of both community health and economic prosperity, yet access to safe and reliable water remains uneven, particularly in rural, remote and Indigenous communities. The organization warned that rising climate risks, combined with decades-old infrastructure in many municipalities, are exposing weaknesses in the province’s water and wastewater systems.
OSPE is urging the development of a provincial water security strategy that aligns ministries and municipalities around shared public health, source protection and resilience goals. The group emphasized that such a strategy must be developed collaboratively, with meaningful engagement from Indigenous communities and coordination with the federal government, as well as input from engineers, researchers and local governments.
The statement also calls for modernization of drinking water treatment standards to reflect emerging contaminants and the growing impacts of climate change, including more frequent flooding, drought and extreme temperatures. Where appropriate, OSPE said advanced treatment technologies that are already proven should be applied more broadly to strengthen system reliability.
Subscribe to our Newsletter!
The latest environmental engineering news direct to your inbox. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Renewing aging infrastructure was identified as another priority, with OSPE urging accelerated investment in water and wastewater assets alongside greater use of real-time monitoring and early-warning systems to detect and manage risks before failures occur. The organization also highlighted the role of decentralized wastewater treatment as a scalable option for underserved or rapidly growing areas, particularly where traditional centralized systems may be impractical.
To support long-term resilience, OSPE is calling for increased investment in innovation, including provincial data platforms and partnerships that advance smart water technologies, analytics and artificial intelligence. Ensuring water equity was also central to the recommendations, with the group stressing that all Ontarians should have affordable access to safe water services, including low-income households and communities in rural or remote regions.
The position statement further urges stronger integration of water engineering into housing and urban planning decisions, including requirements for flood resilience, stormwater reuse and low-impact development. OSPE is also advocating for province-wide climate-resilient design standards to ensure drinking water infrastructure can withstand future environmental extremes.
“Engineers are central to securing Ontario’s water future,” OSPE said, calling on the provincial government to adopt what it described as an evidence-based agenda to deliver safe, equitable and climate-resilient water systems for future generations.
