Blog: Proposed Extension to Ontario’s Water Bottling Moratorium

Blog post by Anastasia Lintner, CELA Special Projects Counsel, Healthy Great Lakes

On November 18, 2019, the Ontario government announced plans to further extend the moratorium on groundwater bottling permits to October 1, 2020. 

Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA) and many of our collaborators and clients are supportive of this proposal, as it is important that any groundwater management changes necessary to ensure ecosystem health and climate resilience are in place before the moratorium is lifted.

The moratorium on new and expanded bottled water permits that pump from groundwater sources was put in place in 2016 and first extended in 2018. The Ministry states that it needs more time to “complete its analysis of the water quantity review and to publicly consult on and finalize changes to how we manage water takings”. CELA commented on the original proposal and the 2018 extension.

CELA has also been engaged as part of Ontario’s Water Quantity Protection External Working Group, established by the government to assist with the groundwater management review. We will be making a submission supporting the extension in due course. The public is invited to submit comments on the proposed extension until December 18, 2019.