Toronto Harbour Report: Lake Ontario needs protecting

Watch the video for the official results of the first-ever Toronto Harbour Report. 

Download the Toronto Harbour Report's Key Findings
Download all of the Toronto Harbour sample results

Thousands of people use the Toronto Harbour, from kayakers and sailors to Stand-Up-Paddleboarders, anglers, and more. The harbour is a popular water-use area, but there is no water quality monitoring here. 

Without regular updates, harbour users have no way of knowing if the harbour meets government water quality standards. 

That’s why Waterkeeper’s Investigation Team took it upon ourselves to sample the harbour this summer. We wanted a clearer picture about what’s going on in the harbour.

The Team collected 166 samples in the Toronto Harbour. Of those 166 individual samples, a third failed to meet federal standards for safe boating and paddling. Some samples came back with bacteria levels hundreds of times higher than government standards. On other days, harbour waters were cleaner than most city beaches. 

The more stories people, the more the importance of Toronto Harbour and its role in our lives becomes clear. The more you show what Toronto Harbour means to you, the more likely it is your harbour will be protected.

Take back your harbour. 

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Share your Toronto Harbour story:

Do you use the Toronto Harbour? (e.g., canoe, kayak, sail, take ferry to the Island, etc.)

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If you use Toronto Harbour: What is your favourite thing to do in the harbour?
If you do not use Toronto Harbour: Why not?

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You may publish my story in the Watermark Project archive:  

Thank you to Muskoka Brewery, Evergreen Canada, Patagonia, MEC, The Charles H. Ivey Foundation, The Bill Martin Family, the Catherine and Maxwell Meighen Foundation, and all of the Indiegogo contributors for their financial support.

Sampling water from Toronto Harbour. (Photo by Dylan Neild)