Discover the key topics that were explored at Blue Cities 2026, the premier water conference for strategic decision makers.
Lightning talks and plenary panels
Keynote and lightning talk: What’s the state of Canada’s water infrastructure?
In 2025, Canada released its first National Infrastructure Assessment, which provides a comprehensive national picture of the state of water assets in Canada. Peter Weltman, Chair of the Canadian Infrastructure Council, shared his thoughts on what the assessment tells us, how the information can be used most effectively and what more we need to know.
Plenary: Data-driven decisions on water infrastructure investment
An expert panel discussed its insights on Canada’s existing and future-oriented water infrastructure, and how these data can be used to inform senior government and local decisions on capacity, funding and investment needs over the coming decade.
Lightning talk: Update on Quebec’s water sector
An overview of the challenges and opportunities facing the Quebec water sector, and Reseau Environnement’s role in helping to meet them.
Lightning talk: Water security as a national priority
Mark Fisher, president of the Canada Water Agency (CWA), provided an overview of the rising challenge of water security and how the CWA is working with governments, First Nations and Indigenous peoples, community groups and stakeholders to strengthen local, regional and national resilience.
Plenary: Tapping into private financing for public infrastructure
As infrastructure demands grow and capital pressures intensify, municipalities are increasingly exploring new approaches to financing essential water projects. This session examined how utilities are thoughtfully leveraging private sector capital, through equity partnerships, loans, and blended models, alongside public funding to advance critical infrastructure while maintaining public stewardship of water services.
Plenary: It’s time to take water reuse seriously
As climate change depletes supply and residential and industrial demand continues to increase, water reuse is being used by forward-thinking water utilities as a vital element of their water supply strategies. Experts and practitioners on international and domestic experience spoke about water reuse as a means to address water shortages, avoid discharges, and involve industries in on-site reuse to reduce demand.
Concurrent sessions
1A: Implications of a transition to a water service corporation governance model
Driven by the Bearspaw Feeder main Independent Panel report and recent Ontario legislative changes, a number of water utilities are anticipating a change in governance model towards service corporations. A panel of experts explored the implications of transitioning from a municipal water department to an affiliated corporation with its own board.
1B: Strategies for managing and preparing for increased industrial demand for water
Emerging industries like data centres, semiconductor fabrication facilities, and EV battery plants with significant water needs are moving into Canadian cities. Municipal water utilities must be prepared to assess their ability to meet the needs of these new users and engage with these industries to manage water use efficiently. Participants heard directly from communities and companies on managing a potential surge in industrial water demand through partnerships, supply management, and other avenues.
2A: Water infrastructure under pressure: Enabling housing growth amid uncertainty
Municipalities are under pressure to deliver housing-enabling infrastructure to address Canada’s housing crisis. At the same time, municipalities are facing uncertainty in growth projections due to lower immigration, lower housing starts, a shortage of skilled labour, and turbulent economic conditions. A panel of experts explored the strategies and approaches being employed by select municipalities to stay on top of market conditions and continue to move forward with their housing-enabling infrastructure.
2B: Future-ready water systems: Risk-informed adaptive planning for long-term water infrastructure investment
As climate, growth, regulation, and fiscal realities shift faster than traditional planning cycles can accommodate, committing to fixed long-term capital plans may expose utilities to significant financial and service-delivery risk. During this session, participants heard from panelists who spoke about how leading water utilities are using adaptive approaches to stress-test infrastructure investments against multiple futures to inform long-term water infrastructure strategies
3A: From the ground up: Managing risk and modernizing buried infrastructure
Significant service interruptions due to aging underground infrastructure have recently been in the headlines in a number of large cities, prompting greater attention by elected officials and senior decision makers to the condition of their own linear assets. A panel of senior leaders and experts explored how forward‑looking utilities are strengthening risk management, sharpening investment strategies, and adopting modern approaches to ensure their underground infrastructure remains in good repair and ready for growth.
3B: Unlocking wastewater’s hidden value
There are exciting possibilities to extract valuable resources and energy from wastewater that are being practiced across Canada. This panel explored opportunities for municipalities and their water utilities to capitalize from the value in their wastewater.
4A: Infrastructure and cybersecurity: What you need to know
Cyber threats from multiple foreign and domestic agents are a real and present danger to Canada’s water utilities. This panel of experts and practitioners explored the magnitude and nature of the threat to critical infrastructure, how the National Cyber Security Strategy is addressing cyber threats, and recent experiences of water utility leaders in responding to cyber threats to their IT and OT systems.
4B: Reducing costs and carbon: A roadmap for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions
CWN’s Net Zero Water project is charting a practical roadmap that helps water utilities shrink their carbon footprint while unlocking broader operational, financial, and community benefits. This session highlighted real-world successes where utilities have reduced greenhouse gas emissions and, in doing so, achieved greater energy efficiency, lower operating costs, improved system performance, and enhanced resilience.