Water Opportunities Act

Ontario’s leadership in water protection is creating clean water jobs and strengthening local economies. Toronto, November 24, 2010 - The Ontario Legislature passed the Water Opportunities and Water Conservation Act yesterday. The act builds on Ontario’s expertise in water protection services and technology – making the province the leading clean water jurisdiction in North America.- The new act sets the framework to: Make Ontario a North American leader in developing water technologies and services and making our expertise available to the world through the creation of the Water Technology Acceleration Project (TAP) – a technology hub bringing together industry, academics and government to develop the sector and promote it abroad Encourage Ontarians to use water more efficiently by creating and implementing innovative approaches to protect our most valuable resource so our children and grandchildren will continue to have access to clean drinking water for generations Strengthen sustainable municipal water planning by helping them identify and plan for long term infrastructure needs.

The act will help municipalities improve the efficiency of municipal infrastructure and services by: Identifying innovative, cost effective solutions to solve water challenges Optimizing systems and improving water conservation Identifying opportunities to demonstrate and implement new and emerging Ontario water technologies, services and practices. The act will also help Ontarians do their part to reduce the amount of water they use through enabling measures such as: Bringing in water efficiency standards for consumer products Setting water use goals Requiring standardized information about water use on water bills. In addition to the act, the government intends to: Work with partners to pilot new technologies, services and practices; and to help develop and sell new technologies and services for water conservation and treatment, at home and around the world.

Educate the public on wise water use. Train the next generation of water professionals. The development of new water technologies is part of the Open Ontario Plan to build on Ontario’s expertise in clean water technology and make the province a world leader in water innovation to help address global water challenges.

The Ontario Water Conservation Alliance, a diverse coalition of industry, labour, environmental organizations and municipalities, welcomed the new water legislation, noting that innovative water conservation technologies and practices will position Ontario to take advantage of the $500 billion global market for solutions to the world’s water challenges, building on the existing 20,000 jobs in its current water sector. “Passing this legislation is an exciting step in Ontario’s commitment to becoming a global leader in clean water. Building on our history of developing industry changing innovations and introducing stronger conservation practices will benefit all Ontarians through economic growth and job creation while giving us the tools to significantly reduce our overall water footprint.” David Henderson, Managing Director, XPV Capital Corporation Key Facts Ontario companies are currently employing 22,000 people in good, high-paying jobs selling water technology around the world. Ontario firms are recognized leaders in ultraviolet disinfection, compact sewage treatment, water information and systems software, and plant design and operation.

The water technology sector is valued at more than $400 billion worldwide, doubling every five to six years. Half of Ontarians consider fresh water to be Canada’s most important natural resource. On average, Ontarians use 260 litres of water per day - twice as much as countries like Germany and the UK.

More information href=”http://news.ontario.ca/ene/en/2010/11/backgrounder-the-water-opportunities-and-water-conservation-act.html” target=”_blank” title=”Learn More”>Backgrounder: The Water Opportunities and Water Conservation Act href=”http://www.ene.gov.on.ca/en/water/opportunities/includes/factsheet-wap.pdf” target=”_blank” title=”Learn More”>Find out more about the Water Technology Acceleration Project (PDF) Source: news.ontario.ca