Columbia River Treaty
The 1964 Columbia River Treaty (CRT) is an international agreement between Canada and the United States to coordinate flood control and optimize hydroelectric energy production on both sides of the border.
What is the Trust’s role?
The Trust’s primary role regarding the CRT is to act as an information resource for Basin residents, First Nations and local governments. The Trust has worked with provincial and federal government agencies to provide advice on meaningful consultation processes with Basin residents and local governments on any process to amend, renew or terminate the CRT or any of its related sub-agreements.
The Trust is not a decision-maker with regards to the CRT and we are not advocating for any specific future outcomes, other than to ensure Basin residents are meaningfully consulted through the process.
What’s happening now?
An agreement-in-principle has been reached to modernize the CRT between Canada and the United States.
- Learn more about the Province’s ongoing negotiations here: https://engage.gov.bc.ca/columbiarivertreaty/.
- Learn more about the agreement-in-principle here:
https://engage.gov.bc.ca/columbiarivertreaty/agreement-in-principle.
Where can I learn more about the Columbia River Treaty?
Watch this 4-minute video that details the basics about the Columbia River Treaty: Columbia River Treaty: The Basics (youtube.com)
Read this document: Overview: Columbia River Treaty
Visit this website for updated and current information and Frequently Asked Questions: Columbia River Treaty (gov.bc.ca)
Columbia River Treaty Library
The Columbia River Treaty Digital Library is a collection of materials and documents about the Columbia River Treaty, including the events leading up to its signing in 1961 and subsequent ratification in 1964 through to its current application and future potential changes.
