Erin and Aberfoyle, ON fight to keep water in the public common
It’s time Ontarians demand policy that protects water sources and keeps water in the public commons because water is a human right and is not for profit!
If you live in Ontario, it’s important to keep a sharp eye on what’s going on with our groundwater and aquifers. In particular, who controls the wells and where is all that precious water actually going?
Take Wellington County for example. The situation there shows just how tricky it can be to track the big players—often large multinational corporations—who are turning water into a highly profitable commodity at the peril of everyday Ontarians and Canadians.
In November 2024, Primo Water Corporation merged with BlueTriton to form Primo Brands. According to their website, Primo runs a large coast-to-coast distribution network that supplies over 200,000 stores and also delivers directly to customers through different services like delivery and bottle refills. They’re a public company with headquarters in both Tampa, Florida and Stamford, Connecticut.
Recently, Primo sold its Aberfoyle and Hillsburgh water wells to a company called White Wolf Property Management Inc., based in Shelburne, ON. The directors of White Wolf are James and Alexandra Gott.
The Gott family also owns Ice River Springs Water Co. Inc., a company that’s been bottling water for major Canadian retailers for more than 25 years.
Ice River claims it has a clear conscience thanks to its recycling. However, the question remains, do we need individual bottles of water when tap water is readily available? Credit: Ice River Green Bottle website
White Wolf now appears to hold the water-taking permits for the Aberfoyle and Hillsburgh water wells. But usually, when ownership of a well changes hands, the new owners are supposed to file a fresh application with the Environmental Registry of Ontario. So, it’s worth asking —was that process followed here?
BlueTriton also sold their Aberfoyle water bottling operations to White Wolf Property Management in association with Ice River Sustainable Solutions earlier this year. Currently, the bottling plant is listed for lease.
Credit: Water Watchers website
Arlene Slocombe, executive director at Water Watchers, said the grassroots non-profit organization working for water protections asked the Doug Ford government to step in and buy the Aberfoyle, Hillsburgh and Elora wells in 2021 after it became clear Nestlé had no intention of returning the wells to the municipalities. The Ford government did not intervene and BlueTriton purchased all three Wellington County wells.
Then, in April 2025, Centre Wellington township purchased the Elora well for a purported $1.8 million plus closing costs returning the well to the public commons. The sale was made possible after it became clear that BlueTriton would never be granted a permit to take water (PTTW) after Elora’s municipal government passed a number of resolutions including water is a public trust and that Centre Wellington was not a willing host community for water bottling purposes of any kind.
But what was truly unexpected was the very recent sale of both the Aberfoyle and Hillsburgh wells to White Wolf Property Management.
Last summer Slocombe attended a technical meeting where it appeared that Erin Mayor, Michael Dehn, was being extremely friendly with BlueTriton attendees. The village of Hillsburgh is part of Erin Township.
Slocombe told Small Change, via phone, that during a later phone call, “[Dehn] told me that BlueTriton was a great community partner because they have all the monitoring wells in the area and freely offered hydrology data to the Mayor and Council as they sought other well sites for the growing communities of Erin and Hillsburgh.”
When Slocombe asked Dehn why he wasn’t acquiring the BlueTriton well, the mayor sloughed off the question saying again that BlueTriton was a great corporate partner.
Primo Water Corporation also owns Aquaterra which has a permit to take water from another well located at 5645 Trafalgar Rd. N, Hillsburgh. That permit, issued in 2021, expires in 2026.
Originally a Canadian company offering bottled water and coffee delivery, Aquaterra was acquired by Cott Beverages in January 2016. Then, in March 2020, Cott Beverages acquired Primo Water Corporation, rebranding itself as Primo Water Corporation. The transaction was valued at approximately $775 million US.
So, Aquaterra is owned by Primo Water Corporation and Aquaterra, in turn, owns Canadian Springs, a bottling company in Nova Scotia.
First Nations water activists (L to R) Professor Dawn Martin-Hill, Layla Staats, Makasa Looking Horse and Wassekom Niin with founding member of the Council of Canadians Maude Barlow Credit: Water Watchers website
Primo Brands is an American-Canadian water company offering a range of services including pre-filled exchange water, self-service refill stations, and water filtration. It also has approximately 27 brands of water.
A review of the land registry documents shows that Triton Water Canada Holdings, Inc. sold three properties in the Puslinch (Aberfoyle) area for $61,154,375.60.
More importantly, the Aberfoyle Site 2024 Annual Monitoring Report prepared by WSP Canada Inc., includes an attachment indicating Ice River Springs is taking over the PTTW.
A report from March 2025 confirms that White Wolf Property Management bought the Hillsburgh (Erin) well in January 2025.
Government records show that White Wolf Property Management, run by James and Alexandra Gott, shares an address with Ice River Springs, the bottled water company they also own. That same address is used by several of their other businesses.
Water Watchers asked the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks for information about the property by filing a Freedom of Information request. The Ministry only confirmed that they had looked into the property and gave the dates.
When Water Watchers followed up asking for more details regarding the Hillsburgh (Erin) well, including information about BlueTriton, the Ministry replied saying the request might affect someone else’s interests. That “third party” had until June 2, 2025 to respond and say whether or not the information should be shared. Water Watchers had not received a response to their request by the time of publishing.
Over Our Heads art installation by Rebecca Houston in Guelph, ON, addresses plastic pollution Credit: Photo provided by Water Watchers
According to Dr. Rob Case, associate professor, social development studies at University of Waterloo, this is “very much” a public-private battle.
“Some people are worried about the amount of water that’s being taken. But I think ultimately, for me, the big question is who is in control of water management,” Case told Small Change via zoom. “Is it going to be publicly, democratically controlled? Or is it going to be controlled by profit maximization forces like Nestlé in the private sector?”
Case explained that it comes down to who gets to decide what water is taken, for what purpose and how much. “Will it be water taking for the people, for the community, for the environment and for the long term? Or, is it going to be the water extracting corporations for the profits of the shareholders?”
Ultimately, the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks could decide not to renew the water-taking permits when they come up for renewal in 2026. That could mean an end to pumping operations—and possibly lead to the Wellington County wells being put up for sale.
Water Watchers has acknowledged the permit has been controversial since the beginning. In 2013, in response to growing grassroots opposition to Nestlé’s water extraction in the area, the town of Erin unanimously passed a resolution against renewing the company’s permit for the Hillsburgh well. Despite that, the Ontario government granted the permit renewal.
Case notes that so far, Ontario’s water has been protected against bulk export to the US under the North American Free Trade Act, but things could change particularly when negotiating trade deals with the Trump government.
Moreover, Case worries that the US government could make the argument that since large numbers of individual bottles of water are already being shipped to the US, that fundamentally constitutes bulk export which could then be expanded.
“I do think that there is a concern when we get to reducing this thing down to a commodity and enabling for-profit operators to pump and trade freely. I think it’s too important to allow for that to happen,” Case argues. “I think we should have some control over it and we can go further in Ontario in terms of protecting our water against that threat as well, keeping it in the public domain wherever possible for the long-term good.”
It’s time demand policy that protects water sources and keeps Ontario’s water in the public commons because water is a human right.
Phone and email requests made in late May by Small Change to Justin Grainger, deputy clerk for the Town of Erin, requesting information regarding the sale of the Hillsburgh well by Primo Brands Corporation to White Wolf Property Management remained unanswered at the time of publication.
*A version of this article was originally published on rabble.ca.
Thanks to everyone who read today’s article. With your continued financial support, a little Nicoll can make a lot of change.
Thankyou for focusing on this important issue. This is a wonderful service to all.
An excellent & much needed article, thank you Doreen. Commercial water taking is yet another example of the head on corporatization of so many of the things communities and individuals need. I am very disappointed in Mayor Dehn. He ran for the Liberals in the last provincial election in Dufferin-Caledon and seemed to be a good person but he is offside on this issue.