Introducing the WAVE Prize
A new initiative to increase public access to urban swimmable waters in B.C.
WAVE: Waterfront Access, Vitality & Engagement
Swim Drink Fish is proud to launch the WAVE Prize, a new way for communities across British Columbia to reimagine their waterfronts as inclusive, vibrant public spaces.
The WAVE Prize seeks to provide up to five grants between $3–15 million to local governments and First Nations, to help them build natural water swimming structures.
This province-wide initiative supports bold, community-led ideas that connect people to swimmable water while creating healthier communities, more inclusive waterfronts, and stronger connections to nature, inspired by innovative, world-class design.
WAVE: Waterfront Access, Vitality & Engagement
Swim Drink Fish is proud to launch the WAVE Prize, a new way for communities across British Columbia to reimagine their waterfronts as inclusive, vibrant public spaces.
The WAVE Prize seeks to provide up to five grants of up to $3 million each to local governments and First Nations, to help them build natural water swimming structures.
This province-wide initiative supports bold, community-led ideas that connect people to swimmable water while creating healthier communities, more inclusive waterfronts, and stronger connections to nature, inspired by innovative, world-class design.
The WAVE Prize is made possible with the generous support of the Weston family.
Communities are invited to submit applications between November 3rd and December 15, 2025.
The WAVE Prize is made possible with the generous support of the Weston family.
Communities are invited to submit applications between November 3, 2025 and January 9, 2026.
Swim Drink Fish respectfully acknowledges that this work will take place within the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of Indigenous Nations across BC, who have cared for these lands and waters since time immemorial.
The WAVE Prize seeks to provide up to five grants between $3-15 million to local governments and First Nations, to help them build natural water swimming structures.
Funding Opportunity
$ 3-15 million
Between
per project
5 communities
For up to
across British Columbia
Types of eligible projects include:
Swimming Piers
Harbour Decks
Open Water Pools
Other Forms of “Social Swimming Infrastructure”
These projects create cost-effective, sustainable ways to expand access to water while fostering stewardship and public health.
A Generational Opportunity
For too long it has been accepted that some water isn’t safe for swimming, drinking, or fishing. But over the past few decades, communities have been working hard to clean up their local rivers, lakes, and harbours.
For the first time in generations, communities have the chance to reimagine their relationship with urban waters. There is a tremendous opportunity to transform waterfronts into places where people don’t just look at the water, but can swim, gather, and connect.
At the same time, tight municipal budgets mean that communities are struggling to meet resident demand for swimming pools.
What if we could turn these underused waterfront spaces into vibrant, affordable swimming spots for people to connect and thrive?
Just imagine if every child could swim in their local waterway, if swimming was the new happy hour, if your city embraced its waterfront not just as an edge, but as its heart.
The opportunity is here. Let’s dive in.
Get Inspired
Around the world, cities are transforming underused waterfronts into vibrant swimming destinations. From Kingston’s Gord Edgar Downie Pier to Copenhagen’s harbour baths, these projects are proving that natural-water swimming structures can be clean, affordable, and transformative.
Signature Project
As part of the WAVE Prize launch, Swim Drink Fish has announced a signature project with the City of North Vancouver.
The project envisions generous, protected swimming areas including an accessible shallow pool, 50-metre swim lanes, diving platforms, and lounging and seating areas throughout.
This project will create much-needed public space and stand as a powerful example of how thoughtful investment can reclaim urban waterfronts and bring swimmable, inclusive spaces back to city life.
The project is being made possible through a donation to Swim Drink Fish from the Weston Family and additional capital funding from the City of North Vancouver.
About Us
About Swim Drink Fish
Swim Drink Fish is a national charity working for a swimmable, drinkable, fishable future since its launch in 2001. By blending science, law, education, and storytelling with technology, Swim Drink Fish empowers millions of people to know and safeguard their waters.
The organization’s flagship programs are the WAVE Prize, an initiative to increase public access to urban swimmable waters; the Biinaagami Project, a change-provoking initiative rooted in Indigenous knowledge, that celebrates our shared responsibility for pure, clean water; and The Fraser River Challenge a bold movement to protect BC’s greatest river and its watershed for generations to come.
About the Donor
The Weston family has a longstanding history of supporting city-building initiatives and natural space revitalization efforts across Canada, driven by a strong belief in the important role that natural civic spaces play in shaping stronger, more vibrant communities.
In 2017, the Weston family, through its foundation, contributed $500,000 to support the Gord Edgar Downie Pier and revitalization of Breakwater Park in Kingston, ON. The donation was part of Swim Drink Fish’s Great Lakes Challenge, which encouraged efforts to conserve the waters, wetlands, and key tributaries that make up the Great Lakes. The Gord Edgar Downie Pier proves a swimmable, drinkable, fishable future is possible.