Feds pick Winnipeg over Sault as site of new water agency

Sault Ste. Marie’s hopes of hosting the Canada Water Agency were dashed on Tuesday after it was revealed Winnipeg had been awarded the headquarters as part of the federal budget.

The agency will focus on ways to keep fresh water safe, clean, and well-managed in Canada.

In June 2021, city council approved the formation of a local task force to explore the opportunity of hosting the federal agency, and it eventually submitted a proposal to be the host city.

The proposal focused on the Sault being located at the hub of the Great Lakes, noting its “plentiful natural assets, cultural diversity and local expertise that reaches beyond borders.”

Ward 5 councillor Corey Gardi, who helped spearhead the taskforce, congratulated the city of Winnipeg earlier this morning on social media, saying Sault Ste. Marie “would love to lend a hand leading to protect, manage, and preserve the freshwater of the Great Lakes.”

When speaking with SooToday, Gardi didn’t hold back his thoughts on the decision.

“To me, it’s inconceivable not to have a presence in and around the Great Lakes,” he says. “It’s vital that an agency charged with preserving, protecting, and managing Canada’s fresh water has some presence in and around the Great Lakes, and I continue to believe we’d be the ideal location.”

“There was no city who engaged their stakeholders and their community members to the degree we did, nor was there any community as deliberate about it as we were.”

Mayor Matthew Shoemaker echoed many of Gardi’s sentiments on the decision, and both he and the Ward 5 councillor are hopeful to play a role in the Canada Water Agency at some point.  

“I do think our bid was the worthiest of all the bids for a number of reasons,” Shoemaker says.

“As the city of Winnipeg gets the agency established, and if there’s a need for regional hubs, the hope is we can play a role in having one of those hubs here in Sault Ste. Marie. If we can continue playing a role without being the main host city, we’d be more than happy.”

Investments of $85 million over five years to support the new Canada Water Agency were outlined in the 2023 federal budget.