Priority – protecting waters

Annex 1: nutrients

The purpose of this annex is to address the issue of excess nutrients and reduce harmful and nuisance algae blooms and zones of hypoxia.

There continues to be an urgent need for a coordinated and strategic response to nutrient management issues in the Great Lakes, and in Lake Erie in particular. In the 1970s and 1980s, collaborative efforts to reduce phosphorus were successful and lake conditions improved. By 1985, phosphorus loadings into the Great Lakes were at or below targets identified in the Canada-United States Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. However, since the mid-1990s there has been a resurgence of algae blooms in Lake Erie and the nearshore areas of Lakes Huron and Ontario, and algae blooms are beginning to appear in Lake Superior as well.

The reasons for the occurrence of algae blooms are now more complex than in past decades. The introduction of invasive species such as zebra and quagga mussels and round gobies, changes in agricultural production systems, increased urbanization, and climate change are all contributing factors. New solutions are required.

The Great Lakes are currently experiencing nutrient levels that impair human use and also result in harmful effects on ecosystem functions. This annex recognizes that the continued environmental, social and economic health of the Great Lakes basin requires the effective and efficient management of nutrients from human activities. Through the 2014 agreement, Canada and Ontario worked with many partners to establish phosphorus loading reduction targets for Lake Erie as well as develop the Canada–Ontario Lake Erie Action Plan to achieve those targets. This annex will build on these achievements by addressing the need for improved understanding of nutrient issues while continuing to develop and promote actions to improve nutrient management.

Actions to understand and address issues related to nearshore water quality, aquatic ecosystem health, and harmful and nuisance algae blooms will continue for all the Great Lakes. Emphasis continues to be on Lake Erie and on working with our partners to implement the Lake Erie Action Plan. The scientific data, knowledge and policy approaches learned in Lake Erie will begin to be applied in Lake Ontario, as appropriate.

There are a number of complementary initiatives that contribute to the goal of reducing harmful and nuisance algae blooms and hypoxia in the Great Lakes. These include federal and provincial investments in nutrient related research and monitoring; green infrastructure, wastewater technologies and facilities upgrades addressed in the wastewater and stormwater annex; and improvements in urban and rural land use and land management practices. Working with the Great Lakes community, this annex strives towards the long-term goal of attaining the sustainable use of nutrients for the continued health and productivity of the Great Lakes ecosystem and economy. Specific commitments are provided to enhance the scientific understanding of nutrient dynamics, develop phosphorus targets and action plans, and increase the efficiency of agricultural nutrient use consistent with a healthy Great Lakes ecosystem and economy. Commitments in other annexes including wastewater and stormwater, lakewide management, climate change impacts and resilience, areas of concern and harmful pollutants also contribute to reducing excessive nutrients.

Result 1

Development and implementation of action plans and approaches to work towards achieving phosphorus reduction targets for Lake Erie.

Canada and Ontario will:

1. Meet annually to discuss priorities for advancing phosphorus reduction, monitoring and reporting and strategies for maximizing cooperation and coordination;
2. Work with partners to implement actions in the Canada-Ontario Lake Erie Action Plan;
3. Build on existing governance structures to ensure partner participation in the implementation of the Canada-Ontario Lake Erie Action Plan;
4. Report on Lake Erie phosphorus loads binationally and domestically on an annual basis;
5. In 2023, assess and report on progress towards achieving phosphorus reduction targets and actions identified in the Canada-Ontario Lake Erie Action Plan;
6. Support the implementation of binational and domestic adaptive management approaches to ensure effective management of the nutrients in the Lake Erie basin;
7. Support the development by 2022 and implementation of phosphorus management plans for Lake Erie priority watersheds, including the Thames River and Leamington area tributaries and key sectors; and
8. Implement funding programs to support projects that demonstrate effectiveness or increase adoption of new or existing beneficial management practices and innovative approaches to reducing phosphorus loads to Lake Erie and communicate results to promote their broad uptake.

Result 2

Establishment of phosphorus concentration and loading targets for priority tributaries, nearshore and offshore waters of Lakes Erie and Ontario.

Canada and Ontario will:

1. For Lake Erie, develop, and review or revise, as appropriate, nutrient and biotic indicators for aquatic ecosystem health to ensure that they support and measure progress towards the results identified in this annex; and
2. Establish additional tributary loading targets for Lake Erie, if required.

Canada will lead, with Ontario’s support:

3. In cooperation with the United States, reassess the viability of setting science based numeric phosphorus loading reduction targets for the eastern basin of Lake Erie and establish a target if appropriate; and
4. In cooperation with the United States, synthesize, review, and assess the adequacy of Lake Ontario monitoring, research, and modeling to calculate phosphorus loads to Lake Ontario and establish binational phosphorus targets for Lake Ontario.

Result 3

Assess and manage Lake Ontario from a nutrients perspective in order to reduce nuisance and harmful algae blooms and maintain a healthy lakewide trophic system.

Canada and Ontario will:

1. Identify and promote early actions that can be taken to reduce nutrient loadings to Lake Ontario, as needed; and
2. Develop a Canadian Nutrients Strategy for Lake Ontario to address harmful and nuisance algae blooms including in areas of concern and other nearshore areas.

Result 4

Increased understanding, development and adoption of practices and technologies to reduce the risk of excess nutrient loss from agricultural production, consistent with a sustainable and competitive agricultural sector.

Canada and Ontario will:

1. Research and develop innovative approaches and technologies, and investigate the efficacy and economic value of new and existing agricultural beneficial/best management practices for improved nutrient, soil, and water management in agricultural production that will lead to improved water quality;
2. Conduct sub-watershed and field scale research to support the ongoing development and implementation of approaches and technologies for the reduction of losses of excess phosphorus from agricultural sources;
3. Continue to improve models and tools to assess risk of losses of excess phosphorus from agricultural landscapes; and
4. Support the agri-food sector’s leadership in raising awareness and increasing adoption of environmental farm planning and beneficial management practices by providing tools, educational and demonstration opportunities, technical advice, and funding.

Ontario will:

5. Collaborate with soil health partners to implement actions in Ontario’s Agricultural Soil Health and Conservation Strategy to support conserving and building healthy soil and helping reduce nutrient loss from farms by building soil health knowledge and expertise, improving soil health measurement, promoting beneficial practice adoption, and supporting decision making tools.

Result 5

Improve understanding of sources of nutrients, nutrient dynamics, and transport, as needed, and the role nutrients play in the development of algae blooms and hypoxia in the Great Lakes with an emphasis on Lakes Erie and Ontario.

Canada and Ontario will:

1. Support monitoring and measurements to improve understanding of nutrient dynamics, concentrations and loadings, including forms and seasonality, for key Lake Erie and Ontario tributaries;
2. Monitor and report on stream discharges from selected Great Lakes tributaries for the purposes of calculating nutrient loads;
3. Estimate and report on seasonal and annual phosphorus loads from Canadian sources to Lake Erie and, based on available data, for Lake Ontario;
4. For selected tributaries, improve understanding of how the activities of different sectors and seasonal characteristics are influencing water quality at the shores of Lakes Erie and Ontario, including point and non-point sources and the role of sewage overflows and bypasses;
5. Enhance information on land use, soil and management practices relevant to excess phosphorus in the Great Lakes;
6. Conduct long term in-lake monitoring programs that track water quality and algal conditions, including monitoring Cladophora at sentinel sites in Lakes Erie and Ontario;
7. Deploy monitoring systems in Lakes Erie and Ontario to monitor oxygen levels, temperature, and algal pigments to track hypoxia and lake stratification;
8. Investigate the contribution of natural heritage features to reducing excess phosphorus from rural and agricultural landscapes;
9. Improve knowledge and understanding of the causal relationships between factors such as duration, intensity, frequency and timing of storms; aquatic invasive species; land use and management; hydrological processes; internal nutrient cycling; hypoxia and harmful and nuisance algae bloom production in the Great Lakes; and
10. Conduct research and modelling to improve our understanding of the factors contributing to Cladophora blooms in the Great Lakes and their impacts on water quality, ecosystem health and human use.

Canada will:

11. Conduct long term in-lake monitoring programs that track algae communities and associated toxins;
12. Develop and apply remote sensing technologies to detect and forecast cyanobacteria blooms in the Great Lakes;
13. Apply integrated in-lake and watershed ecosystem models, taking climate change into consideration where relevant, to support decision making through adaptive management;
14. Develop, apply and operationalize appropriate watershed models to support decision making for selected watersheds in Lakes Erie and Ontario; and
15. Investigate the influence of climate change on the Great Lakes, including nutrient and in-lake conditions, through the deployment of long term climate buoys.

Ontario will:

16. For Lake Ontario, extend seasonal coverage of water quality monitoring into and within the lake to better understand the impacts of extreme events and events that occur in the winter on algae growth.

Annex 2: harmful pollutants

The purpose of this annex is to guide cooperative and coordinated actions to reduce or eliminate releases of harmful pollutants into the Great Lakes basin.

For 50 years, Canada and Ontario have been working together to reduce or eliminate the release of harmful pollutants into the Great Lakes basin.

There have been significant accomplishments in reducing the presence of a number of chemicals in the Great Lakes basin, including a more than 90 percent reduction in Canadian releases of mercury, dioxins and furans, and a more than 90 percent reduction in the amount of high-level PCBs in storage in Ontario. The concentrations of these chemicals are now significantly lower in the sediments, offshore waters and fish of the Great Lakes than they were in previous decades.

Not withstanding these successes, further efforts may be required to better understand the potential sources and impact of some of these chemicals on the Great Lakes ecosystem and, where appropriate, to undertake new or additional risk management actions. Also, there is a need to address other chemicals that are used and released into the Great Lakes basin, which are known to or suspected to pose an increased risk to human health or the environment.

Industries, institutions, agricultural operations and residences are among the sources of chemicals to our waters.  Some of these pollutants pass through municipal wastewater facilities, which are primarily designed to treat human waste by reducing nutrients and pathogens, but may be less able to effectively treat the wide range of chemicals being released to sewers. This annex addresses the release of harmful pollutants from individual sources – those that are released into the sewer systems, and those that are discharged directly into the tributaries and lakes – and complements work, under the wastewater and stormwater annex, to improve management of municipal wastewater and stormwater.

Canada and Ontario are actively engaged in programs and initiatives designed to assess and manage the risks posed by certain chemicals to human health and the environment. Federal initiatives include the Chemicals Management Plan (CMP), which assesses and manages the risks posed by chemicals in accordance with federal laws, including the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999, the Pest Control Products Act, the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act, the Food and Drugs Act and the Fisheries Act. International efforts under the CMP, for example the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants or the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution, can contribute to reductions of releases of chemicals of concern from out-of-basin sources that are deposited within the Great Lakes basin. Provincial initiatives aimed at protecting human health and the environment include the elimination of stand-alone coal-fired electricity generation, local air quality regulations, and ensuring there are stringent standards for ambient water quality, air quality, soil remediation and drinking water.

Under the 2014 Canada-Ontario Agreement on Great Lakes Water Quality and Ecosystem Health, the parties identified chemicals of concern that originated from anthropogenic (human) sources, and were potentially harmful to human health or the environment.  The ten chemicals identified were: mercury, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD), short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), long-chained perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (PFCAs), lead and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).  This annex contains commitments to cooperate on specific research, monitoring, surveillance, and risk management actions for these chemicals of concern.  In addition, this annex focuses on actions to reduce risks and impacts from additional pollutants that can have an adverse effect on human and ecological health including plastic waste and microplastics.

Vigilance through monitoring and surveillance programs is required to detect if legacy chemicals are unexpectedly increasing, or new chemicals are appearing in various media (water, fish, sediment) in the Great Lakes.  To effectively carry this out, new analytical and monitoring tools need to be developed and implemented.

The commitments in the harmful pollutants annex have linkages to several other annexes including wastewater and stormwater, areas of concern, lakewide management, nutrients, groundwater, habitat and species, from awareness to action, First Nations and the Great Lakes and Métis and the Great Lakes.

Result 1

Report on research and monitoring activities and knowledge gained under Canada-Ontario agreements related to chemicals of concern and other harmful pollutants to assist in developing actions.

Canada and Ontario will:

1. Within 12 months of the agreement coming into force, prepare a report that summarizes the knowledge gained under the 2014 Canada-Ontario Agreement on Great Lakes Water Quality and Ecosystem Health in order to inform future programming and decision making specific to this annex; and
2. In the final year of this agreement, prepare a report that summarizes the knowledge gained under this agreement, in order to inform priorities for the next agreement.

Result 2

Releases of chemicals of concern and other harmful pollutants are reduced or eliminated within the Great Lakes basin.

Canada and Ontario will:

1. Under their respective authorities, programs and strategies and in consultation with relevant sectors, as required, promote and support: life-cycle management; the use of safer chemical substances; best management practices and technologies which reduce or eliminate the use and release of chemicals of concern; and products containing chemicals of concern;
2. Periodically review and evaluate the progress and effectiveness of pollution prevention and control activities for chemicals of concern, adapting approaches as required;
3. Cooperatively develop and implement the Canadian component of binational strategies for chemicals of mutual concern, where appropriate, as agreed to under the Canada-United States Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement; and
4. Cooperatively review and evaluate progress towards implementing binational strategies for chemicals of mutual concern and adapt management approaches and other actions as required.

Canada will:

5. Work with continental and other international governments to reduce or eliminate the deposition of transboundary chemicals of concern;
6. For pollution prevention or control measures implemented under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 or other federal acts for chemicals of concern, deliver compliance promotion and enforcement actions as appropriate; and
7. Provide funding support to projects that increase participation in the application of beyond compliance measures through developing, implementing, assessing and promoting the use of innovative approaches and best practices.

Ontario will:

8. Continue to work with municipalities and other agencies to increase diversion of materials containing chemicals of concern and other harmful pollutants from the waste stream through research, monitoring and education;
9. Work with key sectors to develop, support and enhance programs and best management practices that reduce the release of chemicals of concern;
10. Work with small and medium-sized enterprises, and others, who discharge to municipal sewer systems to reduce their inputs of chemicals of concern and other harmful pollutants to these systems;
11. Work with academia, industry, municipalities and stakeholders to promote the development of green technologies and activities supporting green chemistry;
12. Enhance education and outreach on chemicals of concern and other harmful pollutants in consumer products;
13. Undertake compliance promotion strategies and implementation of standards and guidelines to further reduce substances containing chemicals of concern and other harmful pollutants;
14. Continue education and outreach initiatives and activities to reduce releases of chemicals of concern and other harmful pollutants through the promotion of environmentally sound practices and pollution prevention measures;
15. Undertake additional projects to achieve reductions of chemicals of concern and other harmful pollutants from both in-basin and out-of-basin sources. These projects include pollution prevention, voluntary agreements and best management practices; and
16. Develop technology-based standards to support reductions in emissions to air of chemicals of concern and other harmful pollutants.

Result 3

Co-operatively undertake research, surveillance and monitoring activities to improve the scientific knowledge of the presence of chemicals of concern and other harmful pollutants in the Great Lakes and their potential impact to human and ecological health.

Canada and Ontario will:

1. Under their respective authorities, programs and strategies, conduct coordinated research, monitoring and surveillance activities within the Great Lakes basin, as required, including:
   1. Identifying and assessing the occurrences, pathways, sources, loadings, transport and impacts of chemicals of concern and other harmful pollutants to identify where additional management may be required;
   2. Non-target analysis of Great Lakes environmental media to support the detection and identification of unknown contaminants, to provide early warning for chemicals which could become chemicals of concern;
   3. Reviewing and prioritizing research needs on a regular basis, taking into account progress made; and
   4. Developing, improving and validating sampling and analytical tools, methods and techniques for the measurement of chemicals of concern and other harmful pollutants that impact human and ecological health in the environment as well as evaluating their potential impacts.
2. Take actions to advance knowledge on the extent to which chemicals of concern are released from end-of-life products;
3. Share data on harmful pollutants that may be impacting the Great Lakes, including sector specific data, unless prohibited by and in accordance with the relevant/applicable law;
4. Engage interested First Nations, Métis and other communities, that rely on Great Lakes fish as an important nutritional source for their diet, on reducing their exposure to harmful pollutants, to ensure that their specific consumption habits are considered, that advisories that are developed are appropriate for these communities, and that they are communicated appropriately; and
5. Continue to monitor chloride concentrations in water, to advance understanding of conditions, trends, and impacts to Great Lakes water quality and ecosystem health.

Result 4

Environmental quality criteria, which include guidelines, objectives, and/or standards for chemicals of concern and harmful pollutants, as needed, are established.

Canada and Ontario will:

1. Work together to develop environmental quality criteria for chemicals of concern, as required; and
2. Complete chronic toxicity testing studies for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) to create a body of science sufficient to develop appropriate Environmental Quality Guidelines.

Canada will:

3. Maintain, periodically review and make publicly available a listing of current federal and Canadian environmental quality criteria for chemicals of concern.

Ontario will:

4. Develop site-specific chloride guidelines for areas that are primary habitat for chloride-sensitive species; and
5. Develop environmental indicators of wastewater treatment performance that are indicative of long-term impacts on ecosystem health.

Result 5

Plastic pollution in the Great Lakes basin is reduced.

Canada and Ontario will:

1. Support capture and clean up projects aimed at preventing and removing plastic pollution from our waterways and land;
2. Working through the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment, support the development of an action plan to implement the Canada-wide Strategy and Action Plan on Zero Plastic Waste, in order to reduce plastic waste and pollution, including microplastics, that can end up in rivers and lakes in the Great Lakes basin;
3. Advance research, surveillance and monitoring activities on plastic and microplastic pollution in the Great Lakes basin, including:
   1. Sharing information on the occurrence, effects, sources, fate, mitigation and abatement methods; and
   2. Working to standardize monitoring and analysis procedures.
4. Enhance awareness and education to reduce plastic waste and pollution in the Great Lakes basin.

Canada will:

5. Participate in binational Great Lakes-based initiatives that aim to reduce plastic pollution, including microplastics, in the Great Lakes;
6. Provide support to innovative technologies and processes;
7. Through its work under the Ocean Plastics Charter and the Canada-wide Strategy and Action Plan on Zero Plastic Waste:
   1. Facilitate the standardization of extended producer responsibility programs applicable to plastic;
   2. Develop national performance requirements and standards including for recycled content, compostability, reparability, and remanufacturing/refurbishment;
   3. Develop agreements and tools to support the appropriate management of plastics; and
   4. Develop and implement guidelines and tools to ensure sustainable procurement practices that incorporate best practice principles for plastics management.
8. Promote eligible investments in recycling facilities under applicable infrastructure and other funding programs.

Ontario will:

9. Take steps to reduce the amount of waste generated in the province, including plastic waste, and divert more waste from landfills, including:
   1. Transitioning from the current Blue Box Program to a producer responsibility model;
   2. Working to increase the amount of waste diverted through the industrial, commercial and institutional sector; and
   3. Exploring opportunities for innovative technologies such as thermal treatment and chemical recycling that can recover valuable resources, such as plastic resins, synthetic fuels and electricity, from waste.
10. Work with industry partners to encourage best practices at industrial sites (industrial hygiene, filtering wastewater discharges), with a focus on sites in western Lake Ontario where the highest microplastic concentrations have been found;
11. Ensure strong enforcement for repeat offenders of plastic pollution by undertaking a review of existing policy and legislative frameworks and making any improvements necessary to respond to deposits and discharges of plastic and microplastics to water; and
12. Consider plastic pollution in wastewater and stormwater policies.

Result 6

When scientific evidence identifies a need, new chemicals of concern are identified and designated and existing chemicals of concern are periodically reviewed for removal.

Canada and Ontario will:

1. Consistent with the principles of this agreement, for each of their respective candidate chemicals of concern, Canada or Ontario will provide supporting rationale for nominating the chemical as a chemical of concern to each other, including but not limited to:
   1. Surveillance and monitoring data and/or other surrogate information (i.e., key industrial sectors and other sources of exposure) which indicates presence or a reasonable potential for presence in the Great Lakes and also any evidence that the chemical is having a demonstrated or likely detrimental impact on the Great Lakes;
   2. An overview of historical and current pollution prevention and control actions; and
   3. An identification of information and/or technology gaps.
2. Using the binational criteria for assessing chemicals of mutual concern established under the Canada-United States Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, assess and agree to the designation of chemicals of concern for priority action in the Great Lakes basin;
3. Determine those chemicals of concern for nomination to the Canada-United States chemicals of mutual concern Subcommittee of the Canada-United States Great Lakes Executive Committee, as proposed binational chemicals of mutual concern;
4. For those chemicals nominated by the United States for consideration as binational chemicals of mutual concern, consider whether to identify these as chemicals of concern under this agreement;
5. Periodically review the identified chemicals of concern and any new federal or provincial candidate chemicals, to determine whether they should remain or be included, respectively, as priorities for action in the Great Lakes basin; and
6. Through ongoing work under the Chemicals Management Plan and provincial programs, continue to assess, identify, and manage risks associated with chemicals that may negatively impact Great Lakes water quality and ecosystem health.

Canada will:

7. Nominate chemicals of concern for action to the Canada-United States Chemicals of Mutual Concern Subcommittee of the Canada-United States Great Lakes Executive Committee, for consideration as binational chemicals of mutual concern.

Annex 3: wastewater and stormwater

The purpose of this annex is to improve the management of wastewater and stormwater, to reduce pollution into the Great Lakes.

Wastewater and stormwater convey nutrients, as well as harmful pollutants such as salt, pathogens, and contaminants of emerging concern, into the Great Lakes. Management of wastewater and stormwater is therefore critical for keeping the Great Lakes clean, to protect water quality, beaches and public health. Controlling the upstream sources of pollution, as well as these routes of pollution, is more effective – and less expensive – than cleaning up pollution after it reaches the lakes.

Consistent with the principle of adequate wastewater treatment under the Canada-United States Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, this annex focuses on managing nutrients, harmful pollutants and pathogens in wastewater and stormwater, and contributes to meeting the objectives of the nutrients and harmful pollutants annexes of this agreement.

Improving wastewater and stormwater management requires significant investments, long-term planning, and clear standards and policies. Multiple partners play a role in the successful management of wastewater and stormwater including federal, provincial and municipal governments.

The Government of Canada makes green infrastructure funding available under the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program, as established in an integrated bilateral agreement with Ontario. Federal and provincial funding under this program can support public infrastructure projects that result in increased capacity to treat and manage water and wastewater. Projects may include enhancing natural infrastructure, as well as upgrading water and wastewater infrastructure. In addition, the province provides formula-based funding under the Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund to help small, rural and northern communities build and repair core infrastructure, including wastewater and stormwater systems.

The Province of Ontario regulates municipal wastewater and stormwater through Environmental Compliance Approvals to protect the natural environment and human health. A key priority for Ontario is working with municipalities to improve monitoring and public reporting of wastewater bypasses and overflows. Ontario is committed to reviewing and updating its wastewater policies and developing a new stormwater management policy to enhance environmental protection and reduce pathogens and contaminants that may impact the Great Lakes.

This annex aims to enhance wastewater and stormwater management to improve Great Lakes water quality and ecosystem health, such as through: promotion of eligible investments under infrastructure and other funding programs; enforcement of effluent quality standards; and, conducting research and monitoring that advance understanding of contaminant concentrations and trends to improve management actions.

Result 1

Excess nutrient loadings from stormwater and wastewater collection and treatment systems in urban and rural communities are reduced.

Canada and Ontario will:

1. Identify and promote priority actions to assist municipalities to meet commitments in the Canada-United States Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement;
2. Promote infrastructure planning and eligible investments that support the reduction of excess nutrients from point sources such as municipal wastewater collection and treatment systems, including overflows and bypasses as priority considerations under applicable infrastructure and other funding programs;
3. Promote eligible investments, including investments in green infrastructure, that support the reduction of excess nutrients from non-point sources such as urban and rural stormwater (including stormwater from agricultural landscapes), as priority considerations under applicable infrastructure and other funding programs; and
4. Review or support demonstration of innovative practices and technologies that result in improved environmental protection, while reducing reliance on conventional infrastructure funding. Examples may include long term strategic planning for infrastructure, sewage treatment plant optimization, reducing runoff volume so less is collected by storm or combined sewers, phosphorus/water recovery and reuse, full cost recovery of municipal wastewater and stormwater services with incentives.

Ontario will:

5. Update wastewater policies, including policies specific to treatment requirements, sewage overflows and bypasses, and develop a new stormwater management policy to enhance environmental protection and reduce nutrient loadings;
6. Work with municipalities to implement approaches to improve monitoring and reporting of sewage overflows and bypasses, and continue to monitor incidents and municipal actions to minimize overflows and bypasses and achieve co-benefits of nutrient reduction;
7. Work with municipalities and other stakeholders to undertake monitoring of the performance and effectiveness of stormwater and green infrastructure and publicly communicate the results, including any co-benefits of nutrient reduction;
8. Where feasible, work with municipal partners toward reducing loadings through improvements to stormwater management systems (including facility rehabilitation and incorporation of green infrastructure and innovative treatment technologies);
9. Work with developers, municipalities, conservation authorities and others to promote and support the use of green infrastructure and low impact development systems for stormwater management, including clarifying and enhancing policies;
10. Support studies that improve understanding of the correlation between phosphorus load reduction and implementation of green infrastructure and low impact development;
11. Conduct a review of the Province’s approach to rural stormwater and agricultural drainage management using an integrated watershed approach; and
12. Further explore septic systems as a source of nutrient contamination to Great Lake waters via groundwater, surface waters and preferential pathways.

Result 2

Contaminant loadings from stormwater and wastewater collection and treatment systems in urban and rural communities are reduced.

Canada and Ontario will:

1. Consistent with Lakewide Action and Management Plans (LAMPs), identify and promote priority actions for contaminants (emerging and conventional) and pathogens from wastewater collection and treatment systems, urban and rural stormwater, rural domestic septic systems and other rural sources;
2. Promote infrastructure planning and eligible investments that support the reduction of contaminant and pathogen loadings as priority considerations under applicable infrastructure and other funding programs;
3. Undertake projects to sample effluent from wastewater treatment plants within the Great Lakes basin which may be used to better understand concentrations of contaminants entering the Great Lakes; provide baseline data to evaluate future control measures; and identify temporal trends; and
4. Explore research, monitoring and surveillance opportunities related to the management of at-source and upstream treatment technologies under their respective authorities to address harmful pollutants in wastewater effluents and residuals.

Canada will:

5. Continue to enforce effluent quality standards and wastewater system monitoring and reporting requirements under the Wastewater Systems Effluent Regulations, 2012;
6. Issue regular public reports on the number of days that beaches are open and safe for swimming at Great Lakes monitored beaches, through State of the Great Lakes reporting;
7. Work with road organizations, municipalities, conservation authorities and other partners to promote salt application best management practices for road organizations subject to Canada’s Code of Practice for the Environmental Management of Road Salts; and
8. Review the progress achieved through the implementation of the Government of Canada’s Code of Practice for the Environmental Management of Road Salts.

Ontario will:

9. Update Ontario wastewater policies and develop a new stormwater management policy, including policies specific to treatment requirements, sewage overflows and bypasses, to enhance environmental protection and reduce pathogens and contaminants in effluents;
10. Work with municipalities to implement approaches to improve monitoring and reporting of sewage overflows and bypasses, and continue to monitor incidents and municipal actions to minimize overflows and bypasses and achieve co-benefits of pathogen and contaminant reduction;
11. Work with municipalities and other stakeholders to undertake monitoring of the performance and effectiveness of stormwater and green infrastructure, and publicly communicate the results, including any co-benefits for pathogen and contaminant reductions;
12. Develop communication tools to provide more information to the public about septic systems, the importance of their maintenance and potential contamination of non-municipal drinking water wells, to protect public health and reduce potential impacts to Great Lakes water quality;
13. Enhance understanding of the causes of E. coli, algae and other substances that may impact the use and enjoyment of beaches;
14. Promote the use of enhanced beach management tools;
15. Build on existing drinking water source protection activities to ensure that environmental impacts to the Great Lakes ecosystem from road salt use are minimized;
16. Work with municipalities, conservation authorities, private sector and other partners to promote salt application best management practices, certification and alternatives for both public and private salt applicators, including on private roads, sidewalks and parking lots;
17. Assess pathways for road salt into groundwater, impacts of road salt use on groundwater, and groundwater as a source for salt contamination to surface water bodies and aquatic ecosystems; and
18. Investigate technologies or processes for preventing chloride from road salt entering groundwater and surface water.

Annex 4: discharges from vessels

The purpose of this annex is to contribute to the achievement of the objectives under the Canada-United States Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement Annex 5 – Discharges from Vessels, whereby Canada and the United States have committed to prevent and control vessel discharges that are harmful to the quality of the waters of the Great Lakes, through the adoption and implementation of regulations, programs, and other measures that facilitate coordinated and cooperative implementation and enforcement, where appropriate.

Under the Constitution of Canada, the federal Parliament has exclusive jurisdiction over navigation and shipping. Existing laws, regulations, regulatory programs, inspection protocols and enforcement regimes are designed to address threats to the Great Lakes from vessel discharges.

Discharges of polluting substances from vessels have been addressed under the Canada-United States Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement since it was first signed in 1972. Oil was originally the discharge of greatest concern. The introduction of the zebra mussel in 1988 focused attention on the potential for ships’ ballast water discharges to introduce aquatic invasive species (AIS) into the Great Lakes.

The Canada-United States Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement includes commitments by the Government of Canada to work in cooperation and consultation with state and provincial governments, tribal governments, First Nations, Métis, municipal governments, watershed management agencies, other local public agencies, and the public to adopt programs and measures, taking into account guidelines and standards developed by the International Maritime Organization, that protect the waters of the Great Lakes by: addressing discharges of harmful quantities of oil or hazardous pollutants, garbage, wastewater and sewage; taking measures to prevent the release of AIS, and pathogens, as a result of biofouling and ballast water; preventing harm from antifouling systems.

The Canada-United States Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement Progress Report of the Parties, presented to the International Joint Commission by Canada and the United States in 2019, reports that potential discharges of oil and hazardous substances, garbage, wastewater, ballast water and sewage from vessels are well-regulated; Canadian and United States domestic regulatory regimes and applicable international conventions have reduced the risk of discharges of concern from vessels. Canada and the United States are committed to the continued prevention and reduction of threats to the waters of the Great Lakes from all vessel discharges.

Under the Canada-Ontario Agreement on Great Lakes Water Quality and Ecosystem Health, 2021, this annex includes a commitment to limit and control vessel discharges that are harmful to the quality of the Great Lakes through the implementation of priority actions under Annex 5 of the Canada-United States Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement.

Result 1

Continued implementation by Canada of commitments under the Canada-United States Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, Annex 5 – Discharges from Vessels.

Canada will:

1. Implement, for its part, the commitments and priority actions of Annex 5 (Discharges from Vessels) of the Canada-United States Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement through policy, legislation and/or regulations, research, compliance and enforcement.