The City of Regina has submitted its proposal to be home to the new Canada Water Agency.
The bid has support from government, academic, business, and environmental organizations from around the province.
Mayor Sandra Masters says she’s excited about the proposal.
“Regina has a compelling story to tell, and I’m very pleased at the regional Economic Development cooperation from all over Saskatchewan, with Saskatoon playing a significant role in this bid,” said Masters. “We have the history, partnerships, commitment and unique advantages to seize this generational opportunity and serve all of Canada in this vital role.”
The CWA will work with jurisdictions across the country to find the best ways to keep Canada’s water resources safe and clean.
Economic Development Regina CEO John Lee says Regina is more suited than people may think.
“We have the most number of water researchers in Canada, we have world-leading research expertise,” said Lee. “We also used to be the home of the PFRA, which was a world-leading industry agency that worked on keeping Canada’s water safe, clean, well-managed, etc. So, we think we’re well positioned that way.”
Lee says the economic impact of being the home of the CWA would be rather significant.
“Just from an economic perspective, they’ll be about 100 new jobs created, and an estimated economic impact of approximately $70 million annually,” said Lee. “So just from a growth and prosperity perspective, it’ll have huge impacts on Regina specifically.
Regina’s bid focuses on five key themes: -support for the government of Canada’s environmental, Indigenous and economic agendas, – a long tradition of stewardship, from the First People on this land to the PFRA and well beyond, – a ground-up partnership with Indigenous peoples- a robust academic foundation in water stewardship, including First Nations University of Canada, the University of Regina, the University of Saskatchewan and SaskPolytech- a welcoming, supportive community.
The bid cites Regina’s economic prosperity has always depended on water, especially in the ag sector.
