More than eight in 10 Ontarians want the province to permanently stop issuing permits to extract groundwater to sell as bottled water.
That is according to polling done for the Council of Canadians.
The province is currently considering whether to extend a temporary moratorium on these permits, which will end on January 1.
“This is one of the strongest poll results we have ever seen,” said Emma Lui, water campaigner with the Council of Canadians. “Minister [Rod] Phillips should listen to the people of Ontario and permanently ban groundwater extraction for bottled water."
“In Ontario, bottled water corporations like Nestle pay a fee of just 1/20th of a penny for each litre of groundwater they extract, while they sell their single-use plastic bottles of water at a high markup," Lui said.
The council added that Canadian bottled water exports to the U.S. have increased by 383 per cent in eight years.
It said groundwater resources are vulnerable to over-extraction, pollution and the effects of climate change, and Ontario must stop issuing new or expanded permits to bottled water corporations.