Canada’s leading bottled water producer, known for brands like Pure Life and Montclair, has announced the closing of its Ontario operations by 2025, describing the move as a “difficult decision.”
BlueTriton Brands Inc.,
formerly Nestlé Waters, didn’t explain why it is shutting down its Puslinch, Ont., facility–near Guelph–which has been in operation for over
20 years. The company said it will continue operations in Canada from its bottling plant in Hope, B.C.
“We have initiated a public sale process for our Guelph facility and will wind down our operations in Ontario by the end of January,” company spokesperson Carrie Ratner told The Epoch Times in an email. “This was a difficult decision.”
Earlier this month, the company
announced it had merged with Florida-based Primo Water Corporation to create Primo Brands, “a leading branded beverage company in North America.” Ratner said the decision to halt operations in Ontario was “unrelated” to the merger with Primo.
BlueTriton Brands is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. As of April, it had nearly 7,000 associates in the U.S. and more than 230 in Canada, sourcing water from 42 active springs in both countries. It also conserves more than 20,000 acres of natural watershed area, according to the company’s website.
Advocacy groups such as the Council of Canadians called the halt to BlueTriton’s operations in Ontario a “victory.”
“This industry has been draining the precious and finite groundwater supply in Wellington County while the local communities, including Six Nations of the Grand River, face water insecurity,” the organization said in a Nov. 15
publication. “Big corporations are extracting our shared and finite resources and selling them for obscene profit, while the local communities face the consequences.”
Other activist groups, including Water Watchers, which has been
advocating against Nestlé since 2007, have expressed similar concerns about the environmental impact of water extraction. The organization argues that well ownership should be given to “local, Indigenous-informed stewardship.”
BlueTriton, for its part, has guaranteed its operations are not detrimental to the environment or to existing water users. In November 2021, the Ontario government renewed BlueTriton’s operating permits until 2026, following “a thorough scientific and technical review.”
“The ministry is satisfied that the water taking does not interfere with private water supply wells located in the area, nor has the water taking resulted in unacceptable impacts to the environment,” said the permit
decision. “The [permit] has been issued with conditions requiring monitoring of local water levels to ensure the water taking remains sustainable.”
The Ontario environment ministry also notified and requested feedback from three indigenous communities, including Six Nations of the Grand River, Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, and Haudenosaunee Confederacy Chiefs Council, according to details of the permit. Only the second group responded “indicating no concern,” and asked to be informed of any changes to the permit application.
The permit authorized BlueTriton to extract a maximum of 3.6 million litres of water per day in the drilled well located at 101 Brock Road South, in the Township of Puslinch, Ont.
Meanwhile, the company was required to adhere to “strict conditions and safeguards to protect existing water users and the natural environment,” including monitoring, reporting, and responding to complaints.
Puslinch Mayor James Seeley
told local newspaper FlamboroughToday.com he’s disappointed to see advocacy groups celebrating the closing of the BlueTriton facility. “It is troubling for me to classify this as a win by members of the public that reside outside of our community,” he said in the Nov. 13 article, adding the loss of quality jobs “will be very impactful to many families here in Wellington in these tough economic times.”
