Life on earth depends on water. That’s why the UN recognizes access to water and sanitation as a fundamental human right. However, almost two-thirds of the world’s population experiences severe water scarcity for at least one month each year – including many Indigenous communities in Canada. A recent report by the UN University Institute for Water, Environment, and Health warns that our freshwater resources are irreversibly damaged, putting us in a state of “global water bankruptcy.” As climate change intensifies, so too will water bankruptcy. Because it will have an outsized effect on women and girls, addressing this crisis requires a feminist policy approach, both internationally and at home.  

Water poverty as a gendered problem, globally and in Canada 

Globally, water poverty stems from various causes, including poor sanitation systems, a lack of water management and human conflict. In households lacking access to piped water, 80 per cent of the water collection duties are managed by women and girls. Time spent fetching water often comes before obtaining an education or generating income.  

Water poverty also limits access to sanitation facilities, forcing women and girls to travel to remote and shared sanitation spaces, where they face a greater threat of sexual violence and harassment. The absence of sanitation infrastructure also acutely affects women during menstruation and pregnancy. Young girls, for example, are more likely to skip classes or drop out during menstruation if their schools lack private sanitation facilities.

In Canada, water poverty disproportionately harms Indigenous communities, despite the country’s relatively abundant water resources. Today, there are 39 long-term drinking water advisories in effect in 37 communities. For Indigenous women — who often play key roles in water stewardship — this leads to increased risks of water-borne infections, poor mental health and intimate partner violence. 

Ultimately, this is a problem for all Canadians. Climate change, and its contribution to natural disasters such as floods and droughts, puts even water-rich countries like Canada in danger. Over the past decade, several provinces have imposed water rationing policies following a severe drought, reducing water availability for communities and farmers and triggering major economic losses in the process. Today, it is Indigenous communities bearing the brunt of the burden, but water-related threats caused by climate change pose a nationwide problem. Stronger standards for water security, keeping the most affected populations in mind, is a matter of national resilience.  

Canada’s existing approach to water falls short 

The response to global water bankruptcy hinges on international aid, development and cooperation. However, Canada recently slashed international aid to pre-pandemic levels; a move that over 100 NGOs in the country criticize as detrimental to vulnerable demographics, including women and girls. Even though Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy identifies gender equality as a core mandate for development, the overall cuts leave less room for water-related initiatives with a gendered focus. In the end, a feminist foreign policy cannot succeed if it is feminist in name only.  

Domestically, in response to demands to address Indigenous water deprivation, the government introduced Bill C-61, or the First Nations Clean Water Act, in 2023. While it includes minimum water services standards and establishes the right of Indigenous communities to self-govern their water resources, the bill fails to sufficiently account for Indigenous women. 

Instead, it contains a short reference to their roles in water stewardship in the preamble without articulating clear commitments on how they will be meaningfully engaged. In any case, the federal government has delayed passing this bill into law, all while making cuts to the Canada Water Agency, a body tasked with protecting freshwater resources across the country. In the backdrop of these cuts, three Indigenous communities — Pimicikamak Cree Nation in Manitoba, Kashechewan First Nation in Ontario and Kugaaruk, Nunavut — face urgent drinking water emergencies that started in January. 

How Canada can take meaningful action 

Canada must prioritize and invest in equitable water action. This is not simply an ethical argument. Valued at $58 trillion, or 60 per cent of global GDP, the economic value of water and freshwater systems dictates trade systems and geopolitical order. More than half the world’s food production will be at risk by 2050 if the freshwater supply is continually depleted. In the face of a rupturing world order, feminist water policy can help shore up Canada’s sovereignty, economy and international standing — and ensure universal access to clean water, both now and in the future.  

Thankfully, Canada is in a strong position to implement such a policy. Canada has special insight and expertise on water needs, with 20 per cent of the global freshwater supply and cutting-edge water purification technologies. And the establishment of the Canada Water Agency — despite its recent budget cuts — has laid the groundwork for collaboration with Indigenous communities on freshwater governance in the age of climate change.  

Here are a few key policy directions that Canada should prioritize immediately and in the long run: 

Address existing water advisories in Canada, starting with the emergencies affecting the Pimicikamak Cree Nation in Manitoba, Kashechewan First Nation in Ontario and Kugaaruk, Nunavut; 

Revise Bill C-61 with real commitments to Indigenous women — and then pass the bill;  

Deliver stable funding, rather than project-based support, to Indigenous organizations working in gender-responsive water governance, including the Native Women’s Association of Canada;

Build national climate resilience by funding cost-effective adaptation projects like nature-based solutions, with Indigenous perspectives at the forefront; 

Collaborate with other countries to develop a feminist global water bankruptcy agenda and spearhead targeted investments in gender-responsive water aid; 

Engage women and non-binary people as leaders and partners, because six times out of seven, water projects that include women are more effective than those that do not. 

By prioritizing domestic and international calls to action on water, as well as incorporating gender considerations, we can embody the leadership role we claim to hold. 

The future of water requires no less from us.   

Editor's note: This piece was written as part of the Centre for Global Social Policy’s Opinion Piece project, with funding from SSHRC and the Canada Research Chairs.  

Medha Bhushan is a dual-degree MPP & MGA candidate with Sciences Po’s School of Public Affairs and the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy. 

© National Observer