Natural Resources Canada

The map shows the mean daily maximum temperatures for July. Maximum temperatures in July are above freezing across all of Canada except for high elevations on Ellesmere Island. Maximum temperatures exceed 25ºC in the valley bottoms of southern British Columbia, across the southern Prairies, in...

The map shows the mean daily maximum temperatures for July. Maximum temperatures in July are above freezing across all of Canada except for high elevations on Ellesmere Island. Maximum temperatures exceed 25ºC in the valley bottoms of southern British Columbia, across the southern Prairies, in...

The map shows the mean daily minimum temperatures for October. In October, longer nights and a return to below-freezing minimum temperatures is evident across most of Canada except for coastal British Columbia, southern Ontario and Quebec and most of the Atlantic Provinces. Normal minimum...

The map shows the mean daily maximum temperatures for October. Much of southern Canada experiences maximum temperatures in October above 10°C, whereas maximum temperatures across most of the northern territories are below zero. Only the southern portions of the Yukon and the Northwest Territories...

Fifteen ecozones make up terrestrial Canada, and five make up the marine waters bordering Canada. Canada’s 15 terrestrial ecozones can be subdivided into 53 ecoprovinces, which can be further broken into 194 ecoregions. Ecozones are useful for general national reporting and for placing Canada’s...

Canada has defined a hierarchical classification of ecosystems. At a simple level there are 20 ecozones, fifteen terrestrial and five marine. An ecozone is an area of the earth’s surface that represents a large ecological zone and has characteristic landforms and climate. Each ecozone is...

Endemic plants are those plants found only in Canada. These plants have genetically adapted to these particular environmental conditions. Because these are found nowhere else, Canada has a special obligation to ensure these plants do not become extinct. The map shows the number of endemic plants...

Ecoregions vary in their make up and complexity. Some are relatively uniform in their composition, structure and processes. Others contain extreme variations in relief, soils, climate, vegetation, and species. This map shows the number of land cover types (up to 29 types are possible) per...

Some plants are rare because they naturally occur in very specialized habitats or in very low numbers; others may be rare because they have suffered setbacks because of natural processes or pressures from human activities. The highest number of rare plant species is in southern Ontario, where...

Wetlands are lands where water saturation is the dominant factor. Wetlands occupy about 18% of Canada, and Canada has about 25% of the world’s wetlands. Wetlands foster the growth of hydrophytic vegetation and other biological activities such as the sustenance of large numbers of waterfowl,...

In Canada, mines are most heavily concentrated in the Mixedwood Plains, Boreal Shield, Prairie, and Montane Cordillera ecozones. Mines require accessibility, and are therefore strongly correlated with transportation routes. While most mines are designed as closed systems, occasionally water...

Forests sustain hundreds of economies across Canada. The forest industry is an active player in the conservation and sustainability of forested ecosystems. Forests are managed from a legal perspective by provincial and territorial legislation. The primary objective of forest management is timber...

Protected areas are defined as legally established areas, both land and water, that are regulated and managed for conservation objectives. They include parks, wildlife and forest reserves, wilderness and other areas designated through federal, provincial, and territorial legislations. While there...

Industrial activities generate waste that is discharged into water bodies, the air or ends up in landfill sites. Air is the most common release medium. Ammonia, methanol, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide are by far the most common industrial pollutants released in Canada. Industrial discharge...

The higher the concentration of people in an ecoprovince, the higher the chance of loss of habitat and species. To better evaluate and minimize population impacts on the environment, it is necessary to study the distribution and variation of population within ecological areas. The map shows the...

Transportation activities have a great impact on the environment because they fracture natural habitats and create pollution. Roads intrude into natural habitats, separating ecosystems and permanently altering the landscape. Road building has undesirable effects on species that require large...

Urban living generates waste that is usually treated to some degree and then discharged into water bodies. Too much waste can pose a risk to aquatic ecosystems and species. Pollutants can remain environmentally damaging even after passing through conventional sewage treatment. Municipal...

The highest number of species at risk is in the southern areas of Canada where human activity is most extensive and intensive. As of May 2002, 30 animal and plant species had disappeared in Canada. Eleven of these species are no longer found anywhere on the Earth. For most species the greatest...

Climate warming can bring more frequent and severe forest fires. This map shows the change in forest fire severity levels across Canada from 2090 to 2099, based on Global Generation Circulation Models. The Seasonal Severity Rating (SSR) is a measure of fire danger conditions over a complete fire...

Climate warming can bring more frequent and severe forest fires. This map shows the change in forest fire severity levels across Canada from 2050 to 2059, based on Global Generation Circulation Models. The Seasonal Severity Rating (SSR) is a measure of fire danger conditions over a complete fire...