WC145 NovDec 2025 - Magazine - Page 38
H2OPINION
Making
Swimmable Cities
How cities safe for swimming become a form of
environmental advocacy to protect ecosystems
and people BY HENRY CHALLEN
HERE IS A GLOBAL DEMAND for clean water
and clean air. However, the world’s diverse political
and legal mechanisms used to fight for these shared
values are often complex, slow and intimidating. Decades of fighting polluters in court often end in failure—or, in extreme cases, even imprisonment for activists.
Canada is one of only 36 of the United Nations member
states without an entrenched right to a healthy environment. So
how can the average Canadian fight for environmental justice?
What if we told you the first step was to grab a towel,
head to your local waterway, and jump in?
T
The right to swim
Swimming is more than a way to cool off. It’s a form of
environmental advocacy. A city safe for swimming is a city
that values its people, its water and its future.
For millennia, Canada’s waterways were swimmable.
Then, beginning in the 19th century, industry and municipalities were given blank cheques to dump sewage and industrial waste into these commonly held waters.
Slowly, signs appeared: “No swimming allowed.” Many
came to accept the warnings as a permanent condition—
who would want to swim there anyways?
Today, however, the signs are starting to come down. An
urban swimming movement stands in direct opposition to a
growing trend of environmental rollbacks, asserting a public
right to clean, swimmable water in the face of political
neglect. Urban swimming—“swimming in natural, open-air
waterways, either fresh or saline and supported by various
kinds of human-made structures”—has become a way for
communities to reclaim access to water. This is the foundation of the global Swimmable Cities movement.
Environmental justice in a changing climate
As temperatures across Canada increase faster than the
global average, access to water offers relief from the mental,
Henry Challen is a legal policy analyst at Swim
Drink Fish and a law student in Osgoode Hall’s JD/
Masters in Environmental Studies program.
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WATER C AN ADA • NOV EMBER/ DECEMBER 2025
physical and social impacts of a warming climate. However,
for those without cottages or private retreats, water access
remains unequal.
Swimmable cities offer a vital public alternative. By restoring public water access within city limits, and addressing local
water quality concerns, the movement rectifies long-standing
water access inequalities, improving quality of life in urban
spaces, and preserving environmental integrity in spaces
thought to be lost to the scourge of urban decay.
How to make a city swimmable
The first step is upgrading infrastructure.
Many cities sit atop combined sewer systems (CSOs)—
where stormwater and sewage are routed through the same
pipes in their journey to water treatment plants. However,
when these systems leak or become overwhelmed, raw
sewage and untreated wastewater are discharged directly
into the local waterbody. Cities like Kingston, Calgary and
“Acitysafeforswimmingisacitythatvalues
itspeople,itswateranditsfuture.”
Ottawa have made major infrastructure improvements,
including the National Capital investing an estimated $750
million to separate its combined sewers, leading to the
return of swimmers—a reminder that change is possible.
The second step is access.
Safe parks, swimmable shorelines, and lifeguards ensure
that those who access the water can do so safely. This
requires collaboration across sectors—landscape architects,
planners, utilities, public health officials—to ensure safe and
welcoming waterfronts where swimmers want to recreate.
Leading by example: Kingston, a case study
For decades, urban swimming in Kingston, Ontario was
unthinkable. But with advocacy and investment, the city
transformed its shoreline.
The Gord Edgar Downie Pier, completed in 2018, now
draws swimmers daily. As a free-to-access blue space and
swimming pier it’s more than a structure—it’s a public
declaration that clean water belongs to everyone. It shows
what’s possible when citizens, universities, and governments
work together, and how reconnecting with water fosters
pride, stewardship and protection.
Swimmable cities embody environmental justice: they
protect both ecosystems and people. Reclaiming public
water is not just policy—it’s a cultural shift.
So do your part. Jump in and help make your city a
swimmable one.
WAT E R C A N A D A . N E T
