Scott N. Higgins argues that Canada’s freshwater resources should be treated as a strategic national asset as climate pressures, competing demands and tensions with the United States increase.
Canada’s freshwater resources are increasingly becoming a question of national security, environmental protection and economic resilience, according to scientist Scott N. Higgins, who has called for stronger Canadian sovereignty over the country’s lakes, rivers and other freshwater systems.
Higgins, a senior research scientist with the International Institute for Sustainable Development’s Experimental Lakes Area, made the argument in a commentary published by The Globe and Mail. His position comes as Canada is developing its first National Water Security Strategy and as water security has become more prominent in discussions about Canada’s relationship with the United States.
The issue has gained additional attention following recent tensions between Ottawa and Washington, including a U.S. executive order directing federal agencies to refer to Lake Ontario as “Lake America.” The order applies to U.S. federal usage and does not change Canada’s legal naming of the lake.
For Higgins, however, the broader question goes beyond the name of a lake. It concerns how Canada manages and protects a resource that is essential to communities, agriculture, industry, ecosystems and the country’s long-term economic security.
Canada’s freshwater wealth is not evenly distributed
Canada is often described as a country with enormous freshwater resources. Government figures indicate that Canada holds about 20 per cent of the world's surface fresh water.
But the size of the resource does not necessarily mean every Canadian region has abundant water available when and where it is needed.
The federal government notes that only about one-third of Canada’s surface freshwater is renewable annually, while roughly 60 per cent of river flows drain northward away from the country’s most populated regions.
That geographic imbalance is becoming more important as climate change alters precipitation patterns, increases drought risks in some areas and contributes to flooding and other extreme events.
The federal government has identified droughts, floods, pollution, wildfires, aging water infrastructure, groundwater pressures, permafrost degradation and harmful algal blooms among the challenges facing Canada's freshwater systems.
These pressures mean that simply possessing large quantities of freshwater does not guarantee long-term water security.
Ottawa is developing a national water security strategy
The federal government launched work on Canada's first National Water Security Strategy in March 2026.
The Canada Water Agency opened public engagement on the strategy on September 9, with Canadians invited to provide feedback until October 25. The government says the eventual strategy is intended to establish a national roadmap for strengthening water security while recognizing that water management is shared among federal, provincial, territorial and Indigenous governments.
The strategy is not yet a completed set of new water laws or regulations. The government's public-engagement material specifically states that the current process is intended to gather views and is not a consultation on specific legislative or regulatory changes.
The federal government says the strategy could establish a shared vision, identify national priorities and guide future action.
That process gives Higgins' argument particular relevance because it raises a fundamental question: how should Canada define and protect its control over freshwater while also respecting the constitutional responsibilities of provinces, territories and Indigenous Peoples?
Freshwater management is shared across governments
Canada's water system is not controlled by Ottawa alone.
The federal government says primary jurisdiction over freshwater rests with provinces and territories, while the federal government plays important roles involving transboundary waters, federal lands, Indigenous partnerships, science, environmental protection and international agreements.
The Canada Water Agency was established in 2024 as the federal focal point for freshwater issues. It works with provinces, territories, Indigenous Peoples and other partners on national and regional freshwater challenges.
This structure means that strengthening Canadian freshwater sovereignty would involve coordination across multiple levels of government rather than simply transferring all water authority to the federal government.
Indigenous rights are also an important part of the issue. Canada's constitutional framework recognizes existing Aboriginal and treaty rights, while the federal government's freshwater strategy emphasizes Indigenous participation and Indigenous knowledge in water stewardship.
Trade agreements already contain protections for natural water
The question of whether Canada could be required to export its freshwater has been debated for decades.
Under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement, natural water resources are specifically excluded from the agreement's obligations. Canada's official implementation documents state that CUSMA does not create rights to Canada's natural water resources.
The agreement distinguishes between water in its natural state — such as water in lakes, rivers, reservoirs and basins — and water that has already entered commerce as a product, such as packaged drinking water. It also states that CUSMA does not require Canada to exploit, extract, withdraw or divert natural water for bulk export.
Canada also has longstanding agreements governing shared waters with the United States. The 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty, administered through the International Joint Commission, provides a framework for resolving disputes involving shared waterways.
Those arrangements do not eliminate every policy question surrounding water, but they are significant when considering claims that Canada has no legal protection over its natural freshwater resources.
The Great Lakes show why sovereignty and cooperation overlap
The Great Lakes are particularly important because they are shared by Canada and the United States.
The Canadian government says the Great Lakes basin supports approximately 40 per cent of Canada's economic activity and provides drinking water to about one in four Canadians.
Ottawa announced in September that it was investing another $6.6 million in 31 partner-led projects aimed at addressing environmental challenges affecting Great Lakes water quality and ecosystem health. That funding forms part of a broader $420-million, 10-year investment dedicated to restoring and protecting the Great Lakes, itself part of the government's $650-million Freshwater Action Plan.
The Great Lakes therefore demonstrate the complexity of freshwater sovereignty. Canada has sovereignty over the portions of the lakes within its territory, but effective management also requires cooperation with the United States because the lakes form a connected ecosystem and water system.
The same principle applies to other transboundary waters.
Canada's freshwater agency says cooperation with the United States is necessary across 13 transboundary watersheds, while international agreements help govern the use and protection of shared waters.
Water security is also an economic issue
Freshwater is not only an environmental concern.
The Canadian government identifies water as essential to agriculture, energy, manufacturing, tourism, fisheries and recreation. The Great Lakes basin alone provides a major foundation for economic activity in Ontario, while the Lake Winnipeg basin contains a large share of Canada's cropland.
Reliable water supplies are also becoming increasingly important as Canada considers new industrial development.
The federal government has acknowledged that industrial expansion can place additional pressure on freshwater ecosystems, particularly as demand grows from sectors such as technology, energy and manufacturing.
That creates competing priorities.
Canada must maintain water supplies for households and communities while supporting agriculture, industry and energy production without undermining the ecosystems that make those activities possible.
Climate change is increasing the pressure
Canada's freshwater challenge is also linked to climate change.
The federal government's freshwater strategy identifies changing precipitation, droughts, floods and other climate-related pressures as significant risks.
A recent example comes from British Columbia, where a September 2026 survey commissioned by the BC Watershed Security Coalition found that 90 per cent of respondents agreed that protecting and responsibly managing Canada's freshwater systems is important to national sovereignty and security. The survey covered 2,005 British Columbian adults and was conducted from August 27 to September 1.
The survey is an opinion measurement rather than evidence that a particular national policy is required, but it illustrates the extent to which freshwater is increasingly being discussed as a security issue rather than solely an environmental one.
The sovereignty debate extends beyond exports
Calls for stronger freshwater sovereignty do not necessarily concern only the possibility of bulk water exports.
They can also involve Canada's ability to determine how freshwater is allocated, how watersheds are protected, how pollution is controlled, how infrastructure is financed and how water-intensive industries are managed.
The federal government is already developing a National Freshwater Data Strategy designed to make freshwater information more accessible and improve decision-making around surface water and groundwater. The strategy also includes protections for Indigenous data sovereignty.
Better data can be important because governments cannot effectively manage a resource they cannot accurately measure.
Water quantity monitoring is particularly important for determining how much water is available, where shortages may occur and how climate conditions are changing watersheds.
A strategic resource that requires long-term planning
Higgins' argument arrives at a time when Canada is already reassessing its approach to freshwater management.
The federal government has described fresh water as an irreplaceable resource and says climate change, land-use change and pollution are putting pressure on Canadian freshwater systems.
At the same time, the government has begun developing a national water security strategy, while provinces, territories and Indigenous governments continue to exercise important responsibilities over water.
The result is that the debate over freshwater sovereignty is not simply about whether Canada possesses a large supply of water. It is increasingly about whether the country can maintain reliable, clean and accessible water supplies while protecting ecosystems, respecting Indigenous rights, managing shared waters with the United States and supporting economic activity.
Higgins' call for stronger freshwater sovereignty is therefore part of a broader Canadian debate over how the country should treat water in an era of climate change and heightened geopolitical uncertainty.
The National Water Security Strategy engagement process, which remains open until October 25, gives governments and Canadians an opportunity to define what stronger water security should mean and how responsibility for achieving it should be shared.
For Canada, the central challenge will be turning its enormous freshwater endowment into long-term water security without assuming that abundance makes the resource immune to scarcity, pollution or external pressures.
