Kingston to investigate feasibility of adding fluoride to the city’s drinking water

Story by Christena Lawrie, CFRC's Broadcast Journalist & Local Journalism Initiative Reporter.

At last week’s city council meeting, council voted to conduct research on adding fluoride to Kingston’s drinking water.

Many Kingston residents were surprised to hear that the city does not have fluoridated water, in contrast to 73 per cent of Ontario’s population. 

Fluoridating Kingston’s drinking water has been considered in the past. The 2019-2022 City of Kingston Strategic Plan specifically included examining the feasibility of fluoridating the drinking water as a priority. The City conducted research, worked with KFL&A Public Health and Utilities Kingston, and asked Kingstonians for their input back in 2019. However, work on this project was put on pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the topic has not been reintroduced since.

KFL&A Public Health has continued to identify the lack of fluoride in Kingston’s drinking water as a major health issue, impacting the dental health of thousands of residents. Just last fall, the KFL&A area saw an alarming increase in tooth decay among children, with Public Health reporting 40 per cent of children in senior kindergarten having experienced tooth decay, an increase of 60 per cent since 2019.

Healthcare professionals, including KFL&A’s Medical Officer of Health, stood before council on Tuesday to share their experiences working in KFL&A, identifying the lack in fluroide in Kingston’s drinking water as a major health issue and urging that council move forward with this priority.

With the motion moving forward with a vote of 11-1, information regarding the feasibility of fluoridating Kingston’s drinking water will be presented to council by the end of 2024.