Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Water Pricing in Canada: Recent Developments

  • Chapter
Water Pricing Experiences and Innovations

Part of the book series: Global Issues in Water Policy ((GLOB,volume 9))

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to provide a critical review of past and current practices related to water pricing in Canada’s irrigation, residential, and industrial sectors, as well as water pricing related to the provision of environmental services. The chapter demonstrates that water prices in most sectors have historically been quite low, relative to the costs of supply and relative to international standards. Both residential water users and irrigators have had subsidized access to water distribution networks, and self-supplied water users (such as large manufacturing facilities) have gained access to water supplies at little cost. More recently, some provinces, irrigation districts, and municipalities have raised rates to promote conservation and increase the supply network’s financial sustainability. The chapter concludes by pointing to a number of important emerging issues related to water pricing.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Water supply systems in First Nations communities face their own serious challenges relating to governance issues, source water protection, institutional capacity, and adequate funding. Space does not allow us to discuss these challenges—the interested reader should consult Phare (2012).

  2. 2.

    http://vancouver.ca/home-property-development/metered-rates.aspx

References

  • Adamowicz, W. (2007). Reflections on environmental policy in Canada: Presidential address to the Canadian Agricultural Economics Society. Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics, 55, 1–13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Adamowicz, W., Percy, D., & Weber, M. (2011). Alberta’s water resource allocation and management system: A review of the current water resource allocation system in Alberta. Report prepared for the Alberta Water Research Institute’s project on Financial Market-Based Instruments for Sustainable Water Management. Retrieved July 8, 2010, from website: http://www.seawa.ca

  • Agriculture and AgriFood Canada. (2010). Environmental sustainability of Canadian agriculture: Agri-Environmental Indicator. Report Series—Report No. 3. 2010. Retrieved July 29, 2014, from website: http://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2011/agr/A22-201-2011-eng.pdf

  • Agriculture and AgriFood Canada. (2014a). Greencover Canada. Retrieved July 17, 2014, from website: http://www.agr.gc.ca/eng/programs-and-services/list-of-programs-and-services/expired-programs-and-services/greencover-canada/?id=1181580137261

  • Agriculture and AgriFood Canada. (2014b). Growing forward 2. Retrieved July 17, 2014, from website: http://www.agr.gc.ca/eng/about-us/key-departmental-initiatives/growing-forward-2/?id=1294780620963

  • Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development. (2013a). Irrigation in Alberta: A statistical overview 2012. Basin Water Management Branch. Retrieved June 3, 2014, from website: http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$Department/deptdocs.nsf/all/irr7401/$FILE/altairriginfo2012.pdf

  • Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development. (2013b). Alberta irrigation information, 2012. Basin Water Management Branch, Irrigation and Farm Water Division.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alberta Irrigation Projects Association. (2002), Irrigation in the 21st century (Summary Report, Vol. 1). Lethbridge: AIPA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bjornlund, H. (2010). The competition for water: Striking a balance among social, environmental, and economic needs (C.D. Howe Institute Commentary No. 302). Retrieved April 10, 2014, from website www.cdhowe.org/pdf/commentary_302.pdf

  • Brandes, O., Nowlan, L., & Paris, K. (2008). Going with the flow? Evolving water allocations and the potential and limits of water markets in Canada. Report prepared for the Conference Board of Canada. Retrieved August 2, 2014, from website: http://www.conferenceboard.ca

  • Brandes, O., Renzetti, S., & Stinchcombe, K. (2010). Worth the charge: A primer on conservation-oriented water pricing. POLIS Project on Ecological Governance, University of Victoria.

    Google Scholar 

  • British Columbia. (1996). Local government act, revised statues of British Columbia chapter 323. Retrieved August 18, 2014, from website: www.bclaws.ca/

  • British Columbia. (2014). Pricing B.C.’s water. Report retrieved March 18, 2014, from website http://engage.gov.bc.ca/watersustainabilityact/

  • Brock University. (1999). Canada [computer file]. St. Catharines: Brock University Map, Data & GIS Library. Available: Brock University Map, Data & GIS Library Controlled Access. Retrieved August 20, 2014, from website: http://www.brocku.ca/maplibrary/maps/outline/local/Canada.jpg

  • Bruneau, J., & Renzetti, S. (2010). Water use and the composition of production in Canada. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, 136, 72–79.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burke, D., Leigh, L., & Sexton, V. (2004). Municipal water pricing 1991–1999. Ottawa: Department of the Environment. Report retrieved December 5, 2005, from website http://www.ec.gc.ca/eau-water/default.asp?lang=En&n=ED0E12D7-1

  • Canada West Foundation. (2011a). Summary of recent Canadian literature on water pricing. Canada Water Policy Backgrounder report 5. Retrieved April 8, 2014, from website http://cwf.ca/projects/water-pricing

  • Canada West Foundation. (2011b). Water, water use & water pricing around the world (Canada Water Policy Backgrounder report 8). Retrieved April 8, 2014, from website http://cwf.ca/projects/water-pricing

  • City of Toronto. (2014). Financial condition and performance: City of Toronto 2014. Retrieved August 1, 2014, from website: http://www1.toronto.ca/City%20Of%20Toronto/Strategic%20Communications/City%20Budget/2014/PDFs/Public%20Book/Financial%20Condition%20and%20Performance.pdf

  • Conference Board of Canada. (2014). How Canada performs: Water withdrawals. Retrieved April 3, 2014, from website: http://www.conferenceboard.ca/hcp/details/environment/water-consumption.aspx

  • Diaz, H., Hurlbert, M., Warren, J., & Corkal, D. (2009). Saskatchewan water governance assessment final report unit 1E institutional adaptation to climate change. Project. Report retrieved July 20, 2014 from website: http://www.parc.ca/mcri/pdfs/papers/gov01.pdf

  • Dupont, D. P. (2010). Cost-sharing incentive programs for source water protection: The Grand River’s rural water quality program. Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics, 58, 481–496.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Econics. (2013). South East Kelowna irrigation district water rate review 2013. Report retrieved July 31, 2013, from website: http://www.sekid.ca/documents/SEKIDWATERRateReviewReportDRAFTV5.pdf

  • Environment Canada. (2010). 2010 Municipal water use report: Municipal water use, 2006 statistics. Ottawa: Environment Canada.

    Google Scholar 

  • Environment Canada. (2012a). 2011 Municipal water pricing report: Municipal water pricing 2009 statistics. Ottawa: Environment Canada.

    Google Scholar 

  • Environment Canada. (2012b). Factsheet: Environment Canada’s wastewater systems effluent regulations. Report retrieved March 3, 2014, from website http://www.ec.gc.ca/eu-ww/

  • Environment Canada. (2013). Water-how we use it. Report retrieved April 11, 2014, from website http://www.ec.gc.ca/eau-water/default.asp?lang=En&n=0BBD794B-1#a10

  • Environment Canada. (n.d.). Municipal water and wastewater survey: Municipal water pricing, 2009 summary tables. Report retrieved April 20, 2014, from website: http://ec.gc.ca/eau-water/default.asp?lang=En&n=ED0E12D7-1

  • Federation of Canadian Municipalities. (2012). Canadian Infrastructure Report Card volume 1: Municipal roads and water systems. Report retrieved March 15, 2014, from website: http://www.fcm.ca/home/resources/reports.htm

  • Freek, K., & Sanford, R. (2014). Flood forecast: Climate risk and resiliency in Canada (An RMB Manifesto). Calgary: Rocky Mountain Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gagnon, B., St-Onge, F., & Gagnon, M-F. (2005). Remuneration for ecological goods and services produced by agriculture: Elements for a Quebec analysis. Agri-environmental Policy Branch. Ministère de l’Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l’Alimentation du Québec. Library and Archives Canada.

    Google Scholar 

  • Government of Alberta. (2014). Growing forward 2. Report retrieved August 19, 2014, from website: http://www.growingforward.alberta.ca/Programs/index.htm?contentId=ONFARM_WTRMGT_PRG&useSecondary=true&active=yes

  • Griffiths, M., Taylor, A., & Woynillowicz, D. (2006). Troubled waters, troubling trends: Technology and policy options to reduce water use in oil and oil sands development in Alberta. Pembina Institute. Report retrieved August 9, 2010, from website www.pembina.org/reports/TroubledW_Full.pdf

  • He, L., & Horbulyk, T. (2010). Market-based policy instruments, irrigation water demand, and crop diversification in the Bow River basin of southern Alberta. Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics, 58, 191–213.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hill, M., McMaster, D., Harrison, T., Hershmilller, A., & Plews, T. (2011). A reverse auction for wetland restoration in the Assiniboine River Watershed, Saskatchewan. Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics, 59, 245–258.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Horbulyk, T. (2010). Water pricing: An option for improving water management in Alberta. Report prepared for the Alberta Water Research Institute’s project on Financial Market-Based Instruments for Sustainable Water Management. Retrieved July 8, 2010, from website: http://www.seawa.ca

  • Horbulyk, T., & Lo, L. (1998). Welfare gains from potential water markets in Alberta, Canada. In K. W. Easter, M. Rosegrant, & A. Dinar (Eds.), Markets for water: Potential and performance (pp. 241–257). Boston: Kluwer Academic Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • International Joint Commission. (2014). A balanced diet for Lake Erie: Reducing phosphorus loadings and harmful algal blooms. Report of the Lake Erie Ecosystem Priority. Retrieved August 3, 2014, from website: www.ijc.org

  • Johnston, R., & Thomassin, P. (2010). Willingness-to-pay for water quality improvements in the United States and Canada: Considering possibilities for international meta-analysis and benefit transfer. Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, 39, 114–131.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kenny, A., Elgie, S., Sawyer, D., & Wichtendahl, C. (2011). Advancing the economics of ecosystems and biodiversity in Canada: A survey of economic instruments for the conservation & protection of biodiversity. Report prepared for Sustainable Prosperity Institute, Ottawa. Retrieved April 8, 2014, from website http://www.sustainableprosperity.ca/article1431

  • Klein, K., & Kulshreshtha, S. N. (1991). Irrigation development and cost of general agricultural programs: A case study of the South Saskatchewan River Irrigation District. Canadian Water Resources Journal, 16, 143–160.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knight, T. (2010). Enhancing the flow of ecological goods and services to society. Key principles for the design of marginal and ecologically significant agricultural land retirement programs in Canada. Report prepared for the Canadian Institute for Environmental Law and Policy. Retrieved February 17, 2010, from website: http://www.cielap.org/pdf/EnhancingTheFlow.pdf

  • National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy. (1996). State of the debate: Water and wastewater services in Canada. Ottawa: National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy.

    Google Scholar 

  • Natural Resources Canada. (2014). Areas of wetlands by ecozone. Retrieved July 14, 2014, from website: http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/forests/canada/sustainable-forest-management/criteria-indicators/13299

  • O’Grady, D. (2011). Sociopolitical conditions for successful water quality trading in the South Nation River Watershed, Ontario. Canada Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 47, 39–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ontario. (2014). Water taking report and charges. Retrieved May 28, 2014, from website: https://www.ontario.ca/environment-and-energy/water-taking-report-and-charges

  • Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (1999). The price of water: Trends in OECD countries. Paris: Organization for Economics Co-operation and Development.

    Google Scholar 

  • Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2004). OECD environmental data: Compendium 2004. Paris: Organization for Economics Co-operation and Development.

    Google Scholar 

  • Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2010). Pricing water resources and water and sanitation services. OECD Environment Directorate. Paris: Organization for Economics Co-operation and Development.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pattison, J., Boxall, P., & Adamowicz, W. (2011). The economic benefits of wetland retention and restoration in Manitoba. Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics, 59, 223–244.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Phare, M.-A. (2012). Denying the source: The crisis of first nations water rights (An RMB Manifesto). Calgary: Rocky Mountain Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pike, T. (2003) Agricultural metering program review and metered rate options internal report South East Kelowna Irrigation District. http://www.sekid.ca/pdf/reports/Agricultural%20Metering%20Program%20Review.pdf. Accessed 10 Jun 2014.

  • Pike, T., Campbell, I., Neilsen, D., & Aït-Ouyahia, M. (2007). Does pricing water reduce agricultural demand? An example from British Columbia. Government of Canada (Policy Research Initiative. Sustainable Development Briefing). Report retrieved June 5, 2014, from website: http://www.obwb.ca/fileadmin/docs/sekid_pricing_impacts.pdf

  • Querengesser, T. (2014). Alberta’s future water wars. Alberta Venture. January 13, 2014. Report retrieved June 5, 2014, from website: http://albertaventure.com/2014/01/future-water-wars-alberta.

  • Renzetti, S. (1999). Municipal water supply and sewage treatment: Costs, prices and distortions. Canadian Journal of Economics, 32, 688–704.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Renzetti, S. (2007). Are the prices right? Balancing efficiency, equity, and sustainability in water pricing. In K. Bakker (Ed.), Eau Canada: The future of Canada’s water (pp. 263–279). Vancouver: UBC Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Renzetti, S. (2009). Wave of the future: The case for smarter water pricing. C.D. Howe Institute Commentary 281, Toronto.

    Google Scholar 

  • Richmond Hill. (2014). Water and wastewater billing and collection. Retrieved March 20, 2014, from website: http://www.richmondhill.ca/subpage.asp?pageid=finance_water

  • Rivers, N., & Groves, S. (2013). The welfare impact of self-supplied water pricing in Canada: A computable general equilibrium assessment. Environmental and Resource Economics, 55, 419–445.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saskatchewan Irrigation Projects Association Inc. (2014). Districts and areas. Retrieved August 18, 2014, from website: http://www.irrigationsaskatchewan.com/SIPA/sipa_013.htm

  • Saunders, O., & Wenig, M. (2007). Whose water? Canadian water management and the challenge of jurisdictional fragmentation. In K. Bakker (Ed.), Eau Canada (pp. 119–142). Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saxe, D. (2009, July/August). Rain check: Getting a charge out of stormwater. Canadian Water Treatment, 40–42. Retrieved May 5, 2010, from website: http://www.watertreatment.ca/

  • South East Kelowna Irrigation District. (2014). SEKID agricultural metering program. Retrieved June 4, 2014, from website. http://sekid.ca/agri_metering_program.html

  • Statistics Canada. (2008). Snapshot of Canadian agriculture. 2006 census of agriculture. Retrieved June 5, 2014, from website: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/ca-ra2006/articles/snapshot-portrait-eng.htm

  • Statistics Canada. (2009). EnviroStats 2007 (Catalogue no. 16-002-X, Vol. 3 no 3). Ottawa: Minster of Industry.

    Google Scholar 

  • Statistics Canada. (2012). Industrial Water Use 2009 (Catalogue no. 16-401-X). Ottawa: Ministry of Industry.

    Google Scholar 

  • Statistics Canada. (2013). Agricultural water use in Canada 2012 (Catalogue no 16-402-X). Ottawa: Ministry of Industry.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tam, S., Nyvall, T. J., & Brown, L. (2005). British Columbia irrigation management guide. Report retrieved August 20, 2014, from website: www.agf.gov

  • Van Kooten, G. C. (1991). Improving policy instruments for sustainable agriculture. Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics, 39, 655–663.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vander Ploeg, C. (2011). Water pricing. Seizing a Public Policy Dilemma by the Horns. Canadian water policy backgrounder. Prepared for the Canada West Foundation. Report retrieved September 30, 2011, from website: http://cwf.ca/pdf-docs/publications/Water_Backgrounder_8_Sept_2011.pdf

  • Vander Ploeg, C., & Sommerfeld, L. (2011). Charging for water use in Canada: A workbook of the central principles, key questions, and initial steps. Report prepared for the Canada West Foundation. Retrieved April 8, 2014, from website: http://cwf.ca/projects/water-pricing

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics, Brock University, 500 Glenridge Avenue, St. Catharines, ON, L2s 3A1, Canada

    Steven Renzetti & Diane P. Dupont

Authors
  1. Steven Renzetti
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Diane P. Dupont
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Steven Renzetti .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Public Policy, University of California, Riverside, California, USA

    Ariel Dinar

  2. Víctor Pochat Consulting, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Víctor Pochat

  3. Department of Agricultural Economics, Agrifood Research and Technology Centre CITA-DGA, Zaragoza, Spain

    José Albiac-Murillo

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Renzetti, S., Dupont, D.P. (2015). Water Pricing in Canada: Recent Developments. In: Dinar, A., Pochat, V., Albiac-Murillo, J. (eds) Water Pricing Experiences and Innovations. Global Issues in Water Policy, vol 9. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16465-6_4

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation