GREENLAND® deliver
s decision-grade watershed modeling and cumulative effects analysis through CANWET™—an advanced analytics platform supporting planning, infrastructure, and climate adaptation across urban and rural landscapes. Developed by GREENLAND® since 2003, CANWET™ combines open data workflows, GIS-enabled analysis, and high-performance computing to provide defensible, science-based insight for decision-makers responsible for watersheds, infrastructure systems, and climate resilience.
CANWET™ is "Powered by SWAT" (the Soil and Water Assessment Tool)—a widely recognized, peer-reviewed hydrologic and water quality modeling engine. The platform integrates an open-source GIS environment and decision-support analytics designed to inform watershed management; water supply and wastewater treatment infrastructure planning; urban drainage strategies (quantity and quality); and climate change adaptation. From GIS data inputs, the platform can calculate hourly water balance and related watershed parameters—including nutrients, erosion/sediment, bacteria indicators, water temperature, dissolved oxygen, and other key indicators—enabling robust scenario testing and transparent comparison of alternatives.
Decision support for planning, infrastructure, and climate adaptation
CANWET™ is used to support watershed and infrastructure decisions where stakeholders need to understand trade-offs, cumulative effects, and implementation practicality. The platform includes science-based climate change impact analytics and evaluation of mitigative Best Management Practices (BMP) and Low Impact Development (LID) strategies. CANWET™ also includes automated model calibration and verification capabilities to improve confidence in scenario results and reduce project effort—supporting more timely, iterative "what-if" analysis when decision timelines are tight.
Track record and applied use
Initial proprietary versions (mid-2000s) were completed by GREENLAND® with support from the Government of Ontario (Canada), including work associated with the award-winning Lake Simcoe Protection Plan. Subsequent updates have been applied by GREENLAND® in delivering client work across:
This practical, project-driven application has shaped CANWET™ to serve not only as a modeling engine, but as a consistent analytical foundation for comparing scenarios, supporting stakeholder engagement, and translating watershed science into decision-ready outputs.
Lake Erie nutrient reduction investigations (2015–present)
Since 2015, GRE
ENLAND® and the University of Guelph (Canada) have collaborated to support watershed-wide phosphorus and other nutrient reduction investigations for the Lake Erie Basin, affecting Canadian sources draining to the lake. CANWET™ has been used to quantify and compare options and to help inform a wide range of policy and implementation pathways.
In 2018, the first Government of Canada publications reflected consideration of analytical work and findings prepared by GREENLAND® to help establish and evaluate a suite of viable options. Further confidential evaluations using CANWET™ were undertaken by GREENLAND® and later considered for the next publication update by the Government of Canada, including work in 2024.
The underlying analytical approach has examined policy and implementation options against criteria that decision-makers routinely require, including:
Additional Lake Erie work also assessed which initiatives were already in place and recommended how gaps might be filled. The objective was to determine what "best suite of policy actions" could achieve the greatest nutrient load reductions while also being effective in terms of cost, time, and social acceptance. A related analytical and stakeholder engagement approach applied CANWET™ to quantify and understand the origin and timing of nutrient loads from Canadian lands draining to Lake Erie.
AI/ML-enabled enhancements and broader accessibility
Following the pandemic, GREENLAND® initiated a longer-term collaboration with the College of Engineering at the University of Guelph to advance CANWET™ with Artificial Intelligence and machine learning features—maintaining core modeling capabilities while adding new predictive functions compatible with the SWAT analytical engine.
This collaboration has expanded the platform's accessibility and analytical reach. According to Professor Prasad Daggupati at the College of Engineering, University of Guelph: "The system can now be accessed by everyone—from government to urban planners and researchers working with the GREENLAND® team. Users can also see spatially what is happening and take appropriate actions."
Early applications of the AI-enabled functionality have supported participating agencies in efforts to reduce harmful effects associated with algal blooms and related water quality impacts within the Lake Erie Basin.
High-performance computing and web platform evolution
The latest version of CANWET™ advances earlier desktop implementations by leveraging high-performance parallel (cloud) computing. The current version includes a fully functional web-based platform with SWAT modeling tools designed to expand access for decision-makers and stakeholders, and to advance cumulative effects evaluation as a practical component of watershed decision-making—rather than assessing proposed changes only in isolation.
Since 2015, CANWET™ has taken advantage of high-performance computing by porting existing code to a higher performing language and restructuring it for parallel or multi-core processing. These enhancements have delivered dramatic reductions in simulation runtimes. Reduced runtimes also enable the use of automatic calibration and verification routines for SWAT model setups, supporting lower project labor costs and enabling faster turnarounds for scenario testing—including when stakeholders request additional re-runs through the web interface.
Looking forward: broader decision support across Canada
CANWET™—as a web-based, machine learning–enabled platform powered by SWAT—can support a broader set of decision-makers and policy leaders in Canada by improving understanding of pollution sources and climate-driven risk factors, and by enabling more efficient evaluation of watershed-scale BMP suites.
As an example, in January 2024, GREENLAND® completed a related project for the Government of Ontario using CANWET™ to deliver a Stormwater Green Infrastructure Benefit/Cost Analysis for Lake Erie Municipalities. The approach and technology were intended from the outset to be transferable to other Ontario municipalities.
As of December 2025, consultations have been underway involving GREENLAND®, the Federal Government, and Canadian Provinces regarding further use of CANWET™ (and in combination with THREATS™) to support additional public-private collaboration opportunities of mutual interest.
To discuss how CANWET™ can support your watershed planning or infrastructure decisions, contact us or request a platform demonstration.
Updated: January 7, 2026
Greenland International Consulting Ltd.
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County of Simcoe
The County of Simcoe is the upper tier government and planning authority for most of the South Georgian Bay – Lake Simcoe Source Water Protection Region. The County, in partnership with its member municipalities, other levels of government, floodplain management agencies and two (2) conservation authorities, also provides leadership through policy, and actively in the restoration and protection of the environmental health and quality of these watersheds. As you know, in order to comply with, and be environmentally proactive with respect to the Province of Ontario’s “Places to Grow” legislation, the County of Simcoe utilized innovative decision support tools such as Greenland’s CANWET™ model. In 2012, CANWET™ was also used by the County to prepare a “Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Visioning Strategy”. To this day, the information in the Strategy’s final report is used by local municipalities, development interests and other stakeholders as a background reference to help identify sustainable development solutions.
This letter confirms the County of Simcoe's commitment of support which includes initially facilitating the introduction of this landmark international collaboration with all 16 local municipalities, other governments (small and large) and other agencies that partner now with the County of Simcoe on land use planning; infrastructure renewal; and flooding risk/damage reduction initiatives.
As always, I look forward to our continued working relationship with you and your colleagues and the significant benefits these efforts will have for our residents and environment. The County of Simcoe appreciates your efforts towards developing information based decision making tools and we are confident that this project will prove beneficial in our collaborative goal to improve watershed health for all County residents.
Mark Aitken
Chief Administration Officer
The Corporation of the County of Simcoe
October 19, 2015
Town of Penetanguishene
As Director of Public Works for the Town of Penetanguishene, I would like to extend my appreciation to Greeland Consulting Engineers for providing exemplary contract administration and construction inspection services for the Penetang Main Street Reconstruction Project.
The Main Street reconstruction was a huge undertaking for the Town which consisted of: the full reconstruction of 1.4 km of roadway including widening for improved land widths, on-street parking, storm sewer replacement, watermain and sanitary sewer replacement, as well as landscaping and lighting improvements to better serve businesses and residents. The project included significant logistical challenges with respect to the coordination of public access for businesses, and providing workable upgrades to exisiting infrastructure under difficult site constraints and a tight time line.
As the Contract Administrator and on-site Construction inspector, Greenland always maintained open lines of communication between the Town, Contractor, affected businesses and residents, and promptly, responded to all questions and issues raised by the Contractor, the Town and the public. Greenland's attention to detail throughout the assignment helped ensure the project was completed on-time and under budget.
Bryan Murray, P. Eng
Director of Public Works
Town of Penetanguishene
February 12, 2019
Landrex
Landrex is currently working with Greenland and business partner, Clearflow Group, to develop strategies to improve the functionality of stormwater management facilities in Landrex's (ie the City's) existing and future communities in North St. Albert, namely within the Erin Ridge North neighbourhood.
Landrex has been impressed with the collaborative and innovative approach that Clearflow and Greenland provide; they are a solutions-based group that are tremendously attentive, responsive and client focused. We believe they would be an extremely valued partner to the City of Saint Albert and represent the qualified, licensed, and professional consulting firm that the City so seeks.
Jim Sheasgreen, P. Eng.
President
Landrex Inc.
May 15, 2018
