News

Photo credit: Gianluca Tatone - Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance 

In early June the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, the Hon. Chrystia Freeland, toured Dalhousie’s Water Quality Lab of the Centre for Water Resources Studies (CWRS), followed by a Budget 2024 echo announcement reiterating substantive proposed federal investments in science and research across Canada.

She was joined by Halifax Member of Parliament Andy Fillmore and Halifax West Member of Parliament the Hon. Lena Metlege Diab.

Deputy Prime Minister Freeland spoke of how extraordinary discoveries like those produced in the Water Quality Lab play a key role in positioning Canada at the forefront of the world's advanced economies.

During her announcement Deputy Prime Minister Freeland highlighted Dal Engineering PhD candidate Emalie Hayes’s groundbreaking design for detecting pathogens in water systems – enthusiasm she emphasized by having Emalie’s 3-D printed water testing ball design on the podium for the duration of her remarks. The soon-to-be Doctor Hayes was unable to attend as she was successfully defending her PhD thesis under the supervision of Dr. Graham Gagnon.

Budget 2024 & Research Funding

In April Minister Freeland unveiled Budget 2024 which, if successfully passed, will see $5 billion committed to strengthening Canadian research capabilities.

“These investments are going to encourage game changing innovations like the ones we see around us today,” said Minister Freeland, gesturing to the students working behind her.  “We’re backing ground-breaking industries, ground breaking ideas, ground breaking research, so that Canada remains on the cutting edge on the technologies of tomorrow and the good jobs and good lives that they will bring.”

Photo credit: Gianluca Tatone - Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance 

Centre for Water Resource Studies

The CWRS Water Quality Lab is co-led by Dr. Graham Gagnon, Professor and Director of CWRS, and Dr. Amina Stoddart, Canada Research Chair in Wastewater Treatment Technology and Surveillance, both of Dalhousie’s Department of Civil and Resource Engineering.

The CWRS is an ambitious Research Centre in the Faculty of Engineering that embodies 7 faculty members and employs approximately 25 undergraduate student research assistants, 10-15 Master’s students, 10-15 Doctoral students and 2-5 Post-Doctoral Fellows. The Centre has produced – and continues to produce – Canada’s current and future leaders in the water sector.  

Photo credit: Gianluca Tatone - Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance 

Committed Partnerships

Present throughout the morning was leadership from the Centre’s longtime partners and committed collaborators: Halifax Water and the Atlantic First Nations Water Authority (AFNWA), the latter being the first and only Indigenous owned and led water utility in Canada. The AFNWA was established through a vision shaped by the Atlantic Policy Congress of First Nation Chiefs (APC) with strategic partnership support from the CWRS and Halifax Water.

Responding to the announcement, Dr. Stoddart said, “We’re particularly pleased to see the federal support for Indigenous researchers and their communities. We look forward to seeing the impact of $30 million over three years to support Indigenous participation in research.”

Photo credit: Gianluca Tatone - Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance 

Looking Ahead

Dr. Stoddart commended this proposed federal investment in student scholarships amidst affordability concerns, noting it would help offset affordability challenges facing students and early-career researchers, and foster environments conducive to innovative research and training

In recent years the Centre has been featured prominently in local and national news due to their pioneering work in tracking COVID-19 in wastewater. Of late, monitoring the emergence of avian influence in water systems has moved to the forefront for the CWRS through initial research supported by the Public Health Agency of Canada and Research NS.

Through partnerships with leading water agencies across Nova Scotia, the CWRS aims to support informed decision-making for clean and safe water in a rapidly growing province.

Photo credit: Gianluca Tatone - Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance