39 long-term water advisories remain in 37 communities

OTTAWA – Indigenous Services Canada lists 39 long-term drinking water advisories in effect in 37 communities, according to the department’s tracking page last updated Oct. 21, 2026.

The page says 158 long-term advisories have been lifted since November 2015. A Canada News Media analysis of the department’s year-by-year figures shows the pace of progress has slowed since 2024: 25 long-term advisories were added over 2024, 2025 and 2026 to date, while 15 were lifted.

The department reports 11 advisories added and three lifted in 2025, the largest net increase in any year of the series. In 2020, 13 were added and 11 lifted. In 2026 so far, eight have been added and eight lifted. By comparison, the department recorded 38 lifts in 2018 and 28 in 2021.

Several additions are recent. Indigenous Services Canada lists a long-term advisory affecting the nursing station’s water system at Deer Lake First Nation in Ontario as of Oct. 21. It also lists Cross Lake Band of Indians in Manitoba as of Aug. 13, where the advisory affects 248 homes and six community buildings, and Wahpeton Dakota Nation in Saskatchewan as of July 30, affecting 75 homes and four community buildings.

Advisories have also been lifted this year. The department lists Slate Falls Nation in Ontario as of Sept. 4, Pauingassi First Nation in Manitoba as of Aug. 27, Okanese First Nation in Saskatchewan as of May 27, Long Plain First Nation in Manitoba as of May 25 and Mishkeegogamang First Nation in Ontario as of May 5.

The department’s page says the federal commitment is to “end all long-term drinking water advisories on public systems on reserve.” It does not give a target year. It says the decision to lift an advisory “lies with a community’s chief and council, based on recommendations from environmental public health officers,” and that completing a new water treatment system “can take 3 to 4 years.”

The department’s progress chart, which covers all long-term advisories since November 2015, puts 80 per cent as lifted. It says 10 per cent have a project complete with the lift pending, eight per cent have a project under construction, one per cent are in the design phase and one per cent have a feasibility study under way.

The figures count advisories on public water systems on reserve. The department’s page does not give a province-by-province breakdown of the 39 active advisories, and it does not report short-term advisories on the same page. Canada News Media has not independently verified the department’s counts, and the numbers change as advisories are issued and lifted.

The tracking figures come as Parliament studies new legislation on water in First Nations. Canada News Media reported on the House sending the First Nations Clean Water Act to committee on Oct. 13, and on the prime minister’s $2.5-billion pledge for First Nations emergencies. An earlier report looked at Neskantaga First Nation.

Source: Indigenous Services Canada, Ending long-term drinking water advisories, date modified Oct. 21, 2026. Method: added and lifted counts per calendar year taken from the page’s annual chart text and summed for 2024 to 2026.

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