The Clean Water Act, Bill 43, was passed on October 18, 2006 by the Ontario legislature. This legislation was developed in response to Justice O’Connor’s Walkerton Inquiry recommendations and is part of the government’s commitment to ensure clean, safe drinking water for all Ontarians. This legislation sets the conception of prevention as the first principle in the safeguarding of our drinking water for our communities and our health.

Justice O’Connor has stated that source protection is the first barrier in a multi-barrier approach to protecting the water in Ontario’s lakes, rivers and underground aquifers. The Clean Water Act will help reduce risks to municipal drinking water sources by addressing threats to drinking water quality and quantity. It establishes a locally driven, science-based process to protect drinking water sources and promotes the notion of stewardship – the shared responsibility of all stakeholders to protect the integrity of local sources of public drinking water.