Established in 2011, the Global Institute for Water Security (GIWS) is a key representation of water at USask, which is ranked #2 in water resources research in Canada and one of the top 30 water resources research universities in the world. This is a testament to the researchers, staff, and students through the years and the vision of creating supporting infrastructure at USask, including a signature area around water.

About GIWS

Water @USask has a long history, starting with the establishment of the Colleges of Agriculture and Engineering in 1907. Since then, water @USask has celebrated several milestones, including establishment of a Division of Hydrology, the Centre for Toxicology, and the Global Institute for Water Security. Many networks and programs have contributed to success.

GIWS is dedicated to research that advances equitable and sustainable water resources management for people’s health and well-being, strong economies, and ecosystem integrity.

Geographic location
Our geographic location shapes some of our expertise and commitments, such as agriculture, bioresources, food security, Indigenization, reconciliation, and rural health as well as, of course, water. GIWS is co-located with Environment Canada’s National Hydrology Research Centre at Innovation Place in Saskatoon.

Interdisciplinary
At GIWS, faculty and government scientists work with students and post-doctoral fellows on interdisciplinary teams to understand land-water interactions, water management, climate and water-resilience, and water interactions with agriculture and energy. Our water-related disciplinary and interdisciplinary strengths and academic programming at USask are broad. USask is home to all standard university natural science, social science, and humanities departments as well as professional schools for business, engineering, education, law, medicine, and veterinary medicine.

World-class facilities
USask is home to world-class laboratories and facilities that support water research at USask. GIWS also collaborates with and is part of the broader USask research enterprise which includes: