Michipicoten First Nation Water Treatment Plan Upgrades

The project's main goal is to upgrade the water treatment infrastructure to ensure sustainable and reliable water supply for the growing community. These improvements will directly support Michipicoten First Nation's long-term vision of fostering population growth and economic development. Specifically, the upgraded plant will enable the community to address its housing shortage and accommodate members wishing to return to the reserve, creating opportunities for cultural revitalization and local employment.

The current population of Michipicoten First Nation on-reserve is approximately 65 with an additional 1443 members residing off-reserve. Demand for housing is high and there is expected to be significant growth within the community over the next 20-years.  The anticipated 20-year population is 190, with significant additional housing required to meet this demand.  Over the past two to three years, the community has constructed 11 new homes and has a growing waiting list for additional housing. However, the community is concerned about the ability of its outdated water treatment system to meet additional demand, as the 2022 feasibility study reports that the water treatment plant does not have sufficient capacity to meet current or future maximum day demands.

The outcome of this project will be that Michipicoten First Nation has a fully upgraded conventional water treatment plant capable to:

  • Meet the growing community's potable water demands.
  • Provide sufficient capacity to deliver fire flows of 32 L/s, ensuring enhanced fire suppression capabilities.

•Construct a building addition (176 m^2) to the water treatment plant to house the new treatment equipment, including expanding the below-ground reservoir with a minimum additional treated water storage capacity of 173 m³. Proposing increase of reservoir from 179 m³ to 327 m³ 

•Implement a two-train conventional treatment system, each train designed to deliver a treatment capacity of 4.0 L/s, ensuring redundancy and reliability. This increases the current treatment capacity of 1.6 L/s by 250%

•Install a new distribution pumping system with sufficient capacity to deliver fire flows of 32 L/s alongside the maximum day demand (5.2 L/s) for proposed development areas. See figure 1 b for watermain image 

•Safely decommission the existing conventional unit and outdated distribution pumping system.

•Install a new intake screen that complies with Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) requirements. Rest of intake and pipe was deemed in good condition and good for new capacity

Additionally, absence of a filter-to-waste feature means the plant does not meet regulations for water treatment and the current 1 train system is unreliable.

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Latest update

March 3, 2026 – The public comment period on the project is closed. Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada  are considering comments received to help inform its determination on whether the carrying out of the project is likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects.

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Key documents

Key documents
Document number Document title File Date
1 Michipicoten First Nation Water Treatment Plan Upgrades - February 3, 2026

Contacts

Housing, Infrastructure and Communities/ Government of Canada
Noah Giles, Environmental Review Officer
180 Kent
Ottawa, Ontario K1P 0B6
Telephone: 343-571-3945
Email: Noah.Giles@infc.gc.ca

Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada
Calvin Kemm, Senior Environmental Review and Approvals Officer
180 Kent St
Ottawa, Ontario K1P 0B6
Telephone: 613-292-8120
Email: Calvin.Kemm@infc.gc.ca


Disclaimer

This map is for illustrative purposes. The markers represent the approximate locations based on available data. More than one marker may be identified for a given assessment.

  • Location

    • Michipicoten First Nation (Ontario)

  • Nature of Activity

    • Water Management

  • Assessment Status

    In progress

  • Start Date

    2026-02-03

  • Proponent

    Michipicoten First Nation

  • Authorities

    • Infrastructure Canada

  • Assessment Type

    Project on federal lands

  • Reference Number

    90200

Nearby assessments

...within 200 kilometres
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