White Wolf Property Management purportedly purchased two wells from Primo Brands located in Aberfoyle and Hillsburgh, ON. White Wolf currently owns Ice River and Aquaterra water companies based in Nova Scotia.
Water Watchers was waiting for Ice River’s application for a Permit To Take Water (PTTW) to be posted on the Environmental Registry of Ontario (ERO). Instead of posting the application, the Doug Ford Government posted a notice of “Proposed changes to provide flexibility for water taking activities.”
Environmental Registry proposal 025-0730 would allow water taking permits to become transferable assets.
The proposal states: “The proposed changes would mean proponents would not need to apply for a new permit to take water if the previous permit has recently been cancelled due to a change in ownership of the property on which the (water) taking was authorized or where the permit has recently expired. These proposed changes could provide relief to a proponent whose permit may have been cancelled due to an administrative oversight or error – for example, failing to notify the Ministry prior to the sale of a property.”
Notice of the proposed changes was posted to the ERO site on July 2, 2025 and includes a 30-day comment period which ends at 11:59 p.m. on August 1, 2025.
The notice also states: “The regulatory changes would support proponents by providing flexibility and allowing them to apply for permits for previously approved water takings instead of requiring them to apply and wait months for a new permit to take water. We are working to develop a Regulatory Impact Assessment to determine potential costs or estimated savings related to this proposal.” Aka, Ford is “cutting more red tape” — a dog whistle for, Ontario’s water is open for business.
According to Ontario’s own Guide to Permit to Take Water Application Form, the Ministry is required to cancel a permit held by a previous owner upon the transfer of property ownership, and the new owner must apply anew. This process ensures proper review of:
- The purpose of the water taking;
- Potential impacts on local hydrology, wetlands, ecosystems, and drinking water supplies;
- Public engagement and transparency;
- Potential monopoly or near-monopoly in water bottling permits — like Ice River potentially controlling 85 per cent of all bottling permits and up to 99 per cent of the total volume of water taken for bottling in Ontario.
“This proposal is reckless,” said Water Watchers Executive Director, Arlene Slocombe. “Water permits should never be handed off like real estate deeds. Communities and ecosystems deserve a say every time water is taken from the ground —not just the first time. Particularly Indigenous communities from whose treaty lands this water is extracted while many still experience water insecurity”
Slocombe told rabble.ca via email that the proposed changes are a direct response to recent changes to the PTTW process initiated by the overwhelming response from Ontarians opposing the renewal applications of Nestlé and subsequently, BlueTriton for water wells in Ontario. Both corporations previously owned the wells in Aberfoyle and Hillsburgh before Primo Brands bought them in November 2024 and then sold them to White Wolf Property Management in early 2025.
Slocombe shared her exhaustive research and extensive work detailing why folks in Wellington County, as well as from across Ontario and Canada, have consistently opposed renewing the PTTW for the Aberfoyle and Hillsburgh sites.
Objections to the PTTW renewals is based on well-documented concerns about climate resilience, groundwater sustainability, environmental justice, Indigenous rights, and public opinion. The proposal to renew water bottling operations at these sites is not in the public interest, is environmentally irresponsible, and disregards both Indigenous sovereignty and the widespread opposition of Ontarians.
Climate crisis and groundwater vulnerability demand: A precautionary approach
Ontario is experiencing increasingly erratic precipitation patterns, drought events, and groundwater stress due to the impacts of climate change. Groundwater is a finite, slow-recharging resource that supports not only human communities but entire ecosystems. Permitting large-scale water extraction for bottling is both scientifically and ethically indefensible in this context.
Studies by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) have shown that groundwater recharge rates vary dramatically by region, and southern Ontario in particular is under stress from competing land use pressures and climate-driven hydrological shifts. Yet, bottled water extraction takes water 365 days a year, regardless of drought conditions or local water needs.
The precautionary principle must apply in cases where there is scientific uncertainty and potential for irreversible harm to finite critical resources.
Bottled water is high-waste for low-value
Permitting water bottling promotes the privatization of a shared public good for low social benefit and high environmental cost. It takes three-to-five litres of water and considerable fossil fuel inputs to produce a single litre of bottled water.
In Canada, over one billion plastic bottles are not recycled annually with the vast majority ending up as landfill or environmental waste.
Bottled water is also hundreds to thousands of times more expensive than safe, municipally delivered water, yet it is permitted at extraction rates of $503.71 for every million litres of groundwater they extract for bottling purposes.
This model is neither sustainable nor equitable, especially when many First Nations communities in Canada still lack access to clean drinking water.
Haudenosaunee Confederacy cease and desist orders & duty to consult
In 2021, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy Council of Chiefs (HCCC), on behalf of the Haudenosaunee of the Grand River, issued a Cease-and-Desist order to Nestlé Waters Canada, and subsequently to BlueTriton Brands, demanding an immediate halt to water bottling operations at the Aberfoyle site.
The Haudenosaunee Confederacy has never granted consent for the extraction or sale of water from their traditional territory (Nanfan Treaty, 1701).
Permitting the withdrawal of groundwater from Nanfan Treaty lands without consent violates both federal constitutional law and Ontario’s own consultation standards. This omission stands in contradiction to the principles of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) outlined in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), which Ontario has publicly committed to implementing.
To proceed with these permits without appropriate and meaningful consultation constitutes a breach of the Honour of the Crown and contributes to the ongoing pattern of exclusion and dispossession that Indigenous nations have consistently challenged.
Overwhelming public opposition
Permits for water bottling in Ontario, and particularly at the Aberfoyle and Hillsburgh sites, have been met with massive public resistance.
In 2020, over 32,000 public comments were submitted to the Environmental Registry in response to BlueTriton’s water-taking applications. The vast majority were opposed.
A similar volume of public objections (over 25,000 comments) was registered during Nestlé’s permit renewals in 2017.
Polling consistently shows that a majority of Ontarians across party lines believe that permits for water bottling should be phased out entirely.
These numbers reflect a deep and growing consensus that water bottling is inconsistent with public values, sustainability, and responsible governance.
No guarantee of long-term aquifer health
Permits are typically reviewed based on short-term hydrological studies and pumping test data. However, cumulative, long-term, and intergenerational impacts of water extraction are not adequately accounted for in current permit evaluation models.
That means, wetlands, streams, and local wells may suffer slow and permanent degradation due to sustained withdrawals, especially as recharge conditions change with climate instability.
Water Watchers’ believes future drinking water security for Wellington County and surrounding communities must take precedence over the profits of multinational corporations.
Action
Slocombe respectfully urges the Ministry to deny any water-taking permits for the purpose of water bottling at the Aberfoyle and Hillsburgh sites based on a number of crucial factors ranging from the unacceptable risk posed to groundwater reserves and water security to the violation of Indigenous sovereignty; and contributing to the climate crisis.
But perhaps the most egregious is that the permits mean Ice River controls an estimated 85 per cent of all bottling permits and up to 99 per cent of the total volume of water taken for bottling in Ontario. This level of concentration raises serious red flags about both market monopoly and ecosystem impacts.
“Ontario must act as a steward of its water resources, not as a broker for corporate interests. This is an opportunity for the province to align its policy with the realities of climate change, the rights of Indigenous peoples, and the values of its citizens,” said Slocombe via email.Tell Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks, Todd McCarthy and Premier Doug Ford in no uncertain terms, that water permits are not transferable assets. Send a comment using Water Watchers one-click tool: Sign here!
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