Fluoride reintroduced into Calgary’s water supply Monday

After a plebiscite, delays, and deliberation among city council, Calgary reintroduced fluoride to its drinking water Monday.

The city said it would start adding fluoride after council decided to reintroduce the mineral, following a 2021 plebiscite during that year’s municipal election.

A majority of voters, 62 per cent, were in favour of reintroducing fluoride to drinking water. It was removed in 2011.

Research also suggested 65 per cent of Calgary kids had tooth decay, whereas in Edmonton–where fluoridation remains in place–it was around 55 per cent.

The city’s treatment plants will increase fluoride to 0.7 milligram per litre as recommended by Health Canada’s Guidance for Community Water Fluoridation.

The project has been delayed at least three times. It was meant to be reintroduced in 2023, but faced roadblocks due to the cost of upgrading Calgary’s two water treatment plants, which some councillors voiced concern about.

The infrastructure costs for Calgary’s fluoride were just over $28 million, with ongoing annual costs of $1 million for operation and maintenance at the plants. However, the city said the funding will come from council-approved water rates, not property taxes.

Premier muses fluoride as topic for Alberta Next panel

After hearing concerns about the city’s reintroduction of fluoride affecting residents in surrounding areas, Premier Danielle Smith says it could be a topic for the Alberta Next panel.

She made those comments on her bi-weekly morning show, Your Province, Your Premier, on Saturday.

The concern came from a caller, Michelle, who claimed the decision goes beyond the city’s jurisdiction, adding that residents in Airdrie, Strathmore, Chestermere, Tsuut’ina, Foothills County, and Rocky View County didn’t have a chance to vote.

“They shouldn’t be allowed to ram it down our throats,” she said.

While Smith says it was put to a plebiscite and was voted back in by the people, she said she has heard concerns from multiple town halls and agreed that those around the city should have a voice in the process.

“I’m still trying to navigate through on this one … maybe this is a topic for the Alberta Next panel,” she said.

“I would probably need a little bit more guidance from a variety of different voices to be able to make a … to council to override that. So I don’t think we’re quite at that position yet.”

She mentioned that Bill 20, implemented last fall, can be used to “kibosh” a municipality’s bylaws that go beyond their jurisdiction, and could be used in this instance. However, she also said fluoride was already a decision made at the municipal level.

Smith also said communities that felt strongly enough could start a petition campaign so it could be on municipal ballots in the spring or fall.

Referring to Bill 54, which would make it easier to jumpstart a referendum through a petition, she said, “Maybe this is another referendum question that we can have.”

The bill, set to become law Friday, would officially lower the required threshold for citizens to initiate a province-wide referendum, including on separation.

Smith’s government introduced the bill right after Carney’s election victory earlier this year, but said it would have been proposed regardless of the outcome.

Calgary has a storied history with fluoride, as residents voted against adding it to drinking water four times in 1957, 1961, 1966, and 1971.

But that changed in 1989, when citizens voted to add the mineral to the city’s water supply. However, council voted to remove fluoride in 2011, and a plebiscite a decade later led to its reintroduction in 2025.

Dr. Lindsay McLaren with the University of Calgary’s Cumming School of Medicine led a research study in 2021 that found nearly 65 per cent of kids had at least one cavity compared to 55 per cent of Edmonton children where flouridation remained.

“We were fortunate to be able to build this study, and to demonstrate that there are consequences to removing fluoride from drinking water. It’s not just an innocuous policy decision,” she told the U.S. Public Broadcast Service in April.

However, south of the border, the U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy has been voicing skepticism over fluoridation. He claimed it can lower IQ, and it’s not needed since toothpaste is already widespread. He’s also called fluoride a “dangerous neurotoxin” and claimed it has been associated with arthritis, bone breaks and thyroid disease.

McLaren remarked that there isn’t enough evidence to back up his claims of IQ loss, and that research and systematic reviews show a benefit “above and beyond” widespread toothpaste.

Kennedy congratulated Utah for being the first U.S. state to ban fluoride use, and recommended that other U.S. states follow suit. However, Kennedy recently admitted in a FOX Interview that axing fluoride could lead to more cavities.

Calgary joins Edmonton, Lethbridge, and Red Deer as other Alberta municipalities that have fluoride in their water systems.

Professional health organizations, including Health Canada, the Canadian Public Health Association, the Canadian Dental Association, the Canadian Medical Association, and the World Health Organization, have endorsed fluoridating the municipal water supply.

More information about fluoride in Calgary’s drinking water can be found online.

With files from The Canadian Press and Michael Ranger