Canada Centre for Inland Waters

Canada Centre for Inland Waters One of the world's leading water-research complexes, the Canada Centre for Inland Waters (CCIW), is owned and managed by Environment Canada (EC). It provides EC and the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) with shared facilities for environmental research and development, as well as monitoring, resource management and navigational charting. Scientists at CCIW play a critical role in providing the knowledge necessary for the management of the Great Lakes and other aquatic ecosystems.

Established by the government of Canada in 1967, CCIW occupies a large waterfront site in Burlington, Ont, just inside Hamilton Harbour. CCIW houses the central facilities of the National Water Research Institute (NWRI) and other EC programs, including the Ecosystem Monitoring and Assessment Network (EMAN) co-ordinating office; Ontario regional offices of EC, including those related to Great Lakes and meteorological programs; and the Wastewater Technology Centre (WTC), specializing in the advancement of environmentally friendly chemistry technologies as well as technologies for the treatment of municipal and industrial wastewater.

The DFO is represented by the Bayfield Institute, a national centre of expertise in aquatic biology, freshwater fisheries and navigational charting. The institute comprises the Great Lakes Laboratory for Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences and the Central and Arctic region's headquarters of the Canadian Hydrographic Service (CHS) responsible for the Arctic Ocean and major navigable inland waters in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

See also Water Pollution.