The International Joint Commission’s (IJC) 2023 Third Triennial Assessment of Progress (TAP) on Great Lakes Water Quality is a three-year review of federal government progress under the Canada-US Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement toward healthier Great Lakes.
The new TAP report is now available.
To release the report, the IJC hosted a virtual report release and news conference event — including a question-and-answer session. Speakers at event included Canadian and United States IJC Commissioners discussing the report’s findings and its three major recommendations. A recording of the event is available below.
The IJC recommends that both federal governments:
- Ensure that First Nations, Métis and Tribal governments are full, active partners in the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement review process to better empower Indigenous engagement and leadership on Great Lakes water quality issues.
- Increase climate resiliency throughout the region by developing basinwide goals, adopting accountable and transparent performance metrics and working to achieve them with local, regional, and provincial governments, regional watershed authorities and other stakeholders.
- Proactively support and actively participate in the continued development of a 10-year Great Lakes Science Plan that works toward managing, funding, governing and implementing a coordinated and comprehensive binational science initiative.
Under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, the IJC assesses the progress of the Canadian and US governments every three years relative to water quality and other environmental and health-related factors. The IJC must consider the federal governments’ joint State of the Great Lakes report and review the Progress Report of the Parties. The Agreement aims to safeguard the Great Lakes and ensure its waters are safe for drinking, fishing, recreation and other factors for the region’s 40 million residents.
Visit the Great Lakes Water Quality Board and Great Lakes Science Advisory Board websites to learn more about their reports that contributed to these IJC reports.
For TAP questions, please email TAP-ETP@ijc.org.
For more information:
Great Lakes Science Strategy for the Next Decade