ABERFOYLE – White Wolf Property Management Inc. has purchased wells in Hillsburgh and Aberfoyle from Blue Triton Canada.
Correspondence from the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks (MOECP) discussed at the Puslinch council meeting on Oct. 29 also confirms the province transferred Blue Triton’s water taking permits for the wells to White Wolf.
“The renewal of the permits reflects a change in ownership … for water taking for the purposes of water bottling,” from the properties, which are located on Concession 7 in Erin and on Brock Road South in Puslinch, states the MOECP letter.
White Wolf Property Management is owned by James and Alexandra Gott, who also own of Ice River Springs Water Co. Inc., which is based in Shelburne and bottles water for major retailers.
Local advocacy group Wellington Water Watchers celebrated a victory when Blue Triton decided in November 2024 to get out of the water bottling business in Ontario and put the Aberfoyle and Hillsburgh wells up for sale.
In April, the Township of Centre Wellington was successful in purchasing Blue Triton’s third well, the Middlebrook well just outside Elora, as the township is planning for future growth.
Wellington Water Watchers executive director Arlene Slocombe said her organization became aware of the sale of the properties in early February 2025 and spent months digging for more information about the company.
They learned White Wolf had applied for water taking permits and watched the Environmental Registry of Ontario (ERO) website for a posting about the permit, which normally allows for public comment.
What they found instead in July was an announcement about proposed changes to water taking permits, where new property owners could take over old water taking permits.
After commenting closed, the province went ahead with those changes and as of September, there is now a new “streamlined” process.
According to a statement on the ERO website, under this process, “an applicant can apply to renew a cancelled or revoked permit up to the original expiry date of the prior permit, as long as the renewed takings are the same as previously approved takings.”
“It’s deeply concerning,” Slocombe told the Advertiser, adding it means there is no public notice, no community input, and no consultation with Indigenous communities.
“This is what we feared could be possible when the Ford government changed the rules around water bottling permits. And now, it’s happening,” she said.
The permits are in effect until November 2026 when the company will have to reapply.
Slocombe said Wellington Water Watchers is mobilizing for that deadline, preparing an information blitz and public events to raise the alarm about this newest twist to a water-taking story that goes back more than 20 years.
“Ice River presents itself as a green, family-run operation. But let’s be clear: this is a massive North American plastics and bottled water enterprise that controls up to 90% of bottled water extraction in Ontario,” reads a water watchers email that was circulated to its members.
“They bought Nestlé’s former facility for over $60 million and now operate under a different name – White Wolf – but with the same business model: extracting water from the ground and selling it back to us in plastic.”
Slocombe said in a 2016 hydrology report, the City of Guelph identified that water extraction at the Aberfoyle well would impact the city’s water supply as it too needs more water as the city grows.
The Town of Erin is also looking for new water sources as it is moving away from private wells and septic systems and converting to a municipally operated water and wastewater system.
The Aberfoyle well is located in Puslinch, where all residents and businesses have their own private wells.
Mayor James Seeley said he’s known about the White Wolf purchase for a while and has had communication with company executives.
He said Nestlé and then Blue Triton were good corporate neighbours and they employed about 300 people, all of whom lost their jobs when the company closed operations.
As for White Wolf, “My understanding is that the bottling equipment has been removed from the facility, so the use has ceased for bottling,” he said.
“We have not been informed that will start again
“I do believe the property may be under lease. Hopefully some jobs will return to the community.”
Advertiser requests to speak with officials at White Wolf and Ice River have gone unanswered.
