Acidification is a major problem for countries that do not have soils and bedrock that contain easily weathered materials such as limestone. This lack of buffering capacity along with high SO2 and NOx emissions will certainly acidify soils and surface waters. The first and foremost way to confront acidification is to lower emissions but because of the delayed reaction time within soils, surface waters will continue to stay acidified for years to come even after emissions have decreased below a critical level, acidification will continue. A proactive way to fight this problem in the interim is to raise the pH of the surface waters through liming. A comparison between the attitudes of Canadian and Swedish acidification mitigation was done by literature studies, questionnaires and internet surveys. It was found that the Canadian approach was much less focused on the immediate action than the long term goals whereas the Swedish position was much more dynamic. Sweden relies more on liming operations that abate acidification at the source. Canada relies more on policy and future emission reduction strategies. The outcome of this is that the surface waters in Canada will continue to be acidified for decades to come and Sweden will continue to attack acidification with its liming programmes.