RUCTURE water used in Canada has increased by nearly 26% since 1980, causing greater ecological stress and raising the costs of maintaining adequate water infrastructure (http://environmentalindicators.com). In 1999, about 26% of Canadian municipalities reported water availability problems within the previous five years (Environment Canada, 2005). Just under 95% of Canadians have access to adequate water supplies and sewage services. Of that share, some 97% had primary and 78% secondary or tertiary wastewater treatment. However, while it is safe to say that infrastructure in western parts of the country is generally newer than infrastructure in the least, it is difficult to make further regional generalisations. For example, while Calgary has a water treatment system that is state of the art, the City of Victoria, also a western city, has no water treatment system at all. In fact it remains one of the only cities in Canada that dumps untreated sewage directly into the ocean. The discrepancy among different municipalities is partly a result of how sewage and water treatment is regulated in Canada: generally, it falls under the jurisdiction or authority of many different levels of government. National, provincial, municipal and in some cases even international laws and standards apply to sewage treatment (www.environmentalindicators.com/htdocs/indicators/7muni.htm) The vastness and diversity of the country's geography also has a significant impact on infrastructure financing needs, and one of the most striking examples of this exists in Northern Canada. Communities in the North already face tremendous infrastructure challenges as a result of the relatively small tax base and physical remoteness of many communities, but also due to the logistical and technical difficulties of building on permafrost and withstanding extreme climate conditions. Water infrastructure in particular can be very different in the North than in the rest of Canada, with many communities relying on trucks rather than pipes to deliver freshwate