Canadian waterways full of raw sewage and untreated waste water

Dec 14, 2016

Ontario and Alberta among the provinces showing improvements

By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com

According to a CBC report, more than 205 billion litres of raw sewage and waste water made its way into rivers and oceans last year – an amount that could full nearly 82,000 Olympic swimming pools.

Federal regulations introduced in 2012 by the Conservative government mandated that municipalities perform secondary treatments to remove dissolved organic matter in addition to solid waste.

Some municipalities have until 2020 to comply, while others have until 2040.

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May said older systems could be stretched to their limits as climate change brings more adverse weather.

"Our aging waste water infrastructure was designed for a different climate, and for many municipalities across Canada, when you have a deluge rain event your sewage treatment bypasses the sewage plant and goes right downstream,” she told CBC.

The article sparked conversations online from farmers wondering why municipalities aren’t held accountable when spills occur, but producers are.

"(I) always find it sad that farmers get charged for spills but municipalities never do. Wonder what that is?" Alex Gubbels said on Twitter.

"If (a) spill is big enough it's a statistic, no consequences," Harm Kelly, a dairy farmer from Dunnville, Ontario, also said on Twitter.

Federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna said nearly $2 billion is being invested specifically in waste water upgrades.

Some provinces been proactive in ensuring waste water is treated properly.

Ontario produces the most waste water of any Canadian province and is one of the best in terms of treatment. In 2015, less than one per cent of waste water went untreated, according to the report.

Alberta dropped its untreated waste water figures from eight billion litres in 2014 to under four billion in 2015.

Manitoba, however, saw untreated waste water increase by 70.9 per cent to 12.5 billion litres in 2015.

To see the figures for municipal spills and bypasses in many Ontario municipalities, check out Better Farming’s compilation of data.

Video: 2025 USDA December Crop Report a “Dud” + Trump $12 Billion U.S. Farm Aid

The USDA December crop report was friendly corn, neutral soybeans and bearish wheat. The USDA did surprise and increase the 25/26 U.S. corn export forecast to a new record high at 3.2 billion bushels now up 12% vs. last year vs. prior at +9% vs. the export pace to date up 30% the best in 10 years even higher than 20/21! The USDA left the 25/26 U.S. soybean export pace unchanged at 1.635 billion bushels. Higher global wheat supplies will remain a weight and headwind for wheat into year end and start of 2026.
Mexico is now the #1 buyer of U.S. corn, soybeans (usually China), wheat and pork!
USDA also released its long-term early projections but expect more changes by February of 2026.
Trump announces a $12 billion U.S. farmer aid package to be paid out by February 28, 2026. This helps no one but the ag banks, farm equipment companies, seed and fertilizer companies. It does prevent more farmer bushels from being sold near-term but is not bullish grain prices long-term. The Trump administration should focus on increasing U.S. domestic demand and propping up grain futures so farmers can cover their higher costs, up since COVID of 2020.
The China U.S. soybean purchase tracker now stands at 4.521 mmt or 38% of the 12 mmt promised by China at year end or is it end of February or the growing season? Why the discrepancy vs. the fact sheet. The optics are poor for the Trump administration.
After surging to contract highs U.S. natural gas futures plunged over 30+% in just 5-trading days!
Silver traded to new record highs as the debasement and de dollarization trade continued but technicals remain overbought near-term.
Soybean futures remained in correction mode after the funds went record long futures on Nov. 19 +233,000 contracts but the $10.80 support should hold into year end when the fund profit taking/liquidation comes to an end from the year end, end of month and end of quarter selling.
The U.S. Fed cut interest rates for the 3rd time by 25 basis points to a range of 3.50 – 3.75% and they will only cut one more time in 2026 and once in 20267/ but when Powell is gone next April the replacement is willing to cut more aggressively and we could see U.S. interest rates fall to 2.0% very bullish for ag and stocks as it could reignite inflation into 2027.
After 2 months of being drier than normal in Brazil the rains have finally arrived for the 1st half of December, and a record crop is still in the cards but if this pattern continues and verifies it could start to delay the harvest. Argentina after being too wet has turned dry but they are too small, compared top Brazil in the grand picture.
The Canadian dollar surged to $0.73 after better-than-expected employment data with 180,000 new jobs in the past 3-months and 3rd quarter GDP at +2.6% but this could be short-lived.
The latest CFTC report as of 11-19-2025 reported a record long fund position in soybeans at +233,000 contracts when 2026 March soybean futures peaked on 11-19-25 at $11.724/bu.