York University researchers will lead a new federally funded project to address a question often overlooked in Canada’s housing system: Can tenants trust the water coming from their taps?
The initiative, led by Stephanie Gora, assistant professor at the Lassonde School of Engineering, received $250,000 from the Government of Canada’s New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF) 2025 Exploration competition. The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) program supports bold, interdisciplinary research that tests new ideas and aims for real‑world impact.
Gora’s project focuses on drinking water quality in multi‑unit rental housing, where water safety is impacted by the actions of water utilities, tenants, landlords/building owners and regulators.
“This funding gives us the freedom to step back and take a ‘problem-first’ approach to understanding and improving water safety in rental housing that prioritizes the lived experiences of tenants, as well as building owners and management,” says Gora. “The goal is to co-develop technologies and frameworks that address the real barriers to safe water in rental housing."
While Canada has invested heavily in protecting drinking water, quality of water from the tap – particularly in rental buildings – remains difficult to assess and address, she adds.
Expertise in engineering, housing and urban planning will come together to examine both the technical and social dimensions of water quality. Gora is joined by co‑principal investigator Katherine Perrott (University of Waterloo) and co‑applicants Judy Duncan (ACORN Canada), Liam Butler and Razieh Salahandish (York University), along with Brian Doucet (University of Waterloo) for the project, titled “‘Can I drink the tap water?’ An interdisciplinary action framework for water quality assurance in multi‑unit rental housing.”
According to Gora, research and policy following the 2000 Walkerton water crisis focused primarily on protecting municipal sources, treatment plants and distribution systems. However, conditions within buildings are a separate risk where aging plumbing, construction materials and maintenance practices can significantly affect water quality by the time it reaches residents’ taps.
These challenges are particularly pronounced in rental housing, where tenants have limited control over infrastructure and limited access to information.
Multi‑unit buildings constructed before 1960 are more likely to contain lead-bearing plumbing components and lead solder, but water quality issues are not limited to older housing stock. Newer and high‑rise buildings can also experience problems related to water stagnation and interactions between the water and materials used for plumbing.
In January 2024, more than 200 tenants were evacuated from a newly built student apartment building in Hamilton, Ont., due to poor water quality, highlighting the scope of the issue.
The York‑led project responds to these gaps by integrating scientific testing with lived experience.
Researchers will begin by testing water samples and interviewing tenants, building owners or managers to understand how water quality issues arise and how they are handled in real-world settings. The team will test how point-of-use and distributed water quality sensors monitor water safety in real time.
The findings will help the team develop a data-driven water safety framework for multi-unit rental buildings using an approach that considers social, environmental and economic impacts while encouraging collaboration among sector partners to clarify shared responsibilities.