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The following highlights are taken from Environment Accounts and Statistics Division publications.

Human Activity and the Environment, 2012

Human Activity and the Environment 2012: Waste management in Canada gathers together a variety of statistics describing the generation and management of different types of waste. The report starts with an overview of waste generation in Canada. The remaining sections cover solid waste, wastewater discharges, and air emissions in greater detail.

1. From 2002 to 2008, municipal solid waste disposal increased slightly from 769 kilograms to 777 kilograms per capita. During the same time period, solid waste diversion increased from 212 kilograms to 254 kilograms per capita.
2. The average diversion rate—the amount of waste diverted as a proportion of waste generated—has increased from 22% in 2002 to 25% in 2008.
3. By weight, organic materials accounted for the largest proportion of waste diversion in 2008, with 2,439,223 tonnes diverted, 29% of total waste diversion, followed by cardboard and boxboard (17%) and newsprint (13%).
4. In 2009, 82% of households lived in dwellings connected to municipal sewer systems, while 13% used private septic systems and 1% used communal septic systems.
5. Wastewater discharge for manufacturing, mineral extraction (excluding oil and gas extraction) and thermal-electric power generation was 29.9 billion cubic metres in 2009.
6. In 2008, the majority of capital investments for pollution prevention and abatement and control were targeted at the prevention or reduction of air pollutants. Almost $1.4 billion was invested in pollution abatement and control processes and technologies to reduce air emissions, while capital expenditures on pollution prevention processes and technologies totalled $422.2 million.

EnviroStats, 2012

1. During the last 39 years, the average annual area of snow cover in Canada has declined 5.1%. The lowest annual average occurred in 1998, followed closely by 2010.
2. In 2009, 52% of Canadian households had a forced air furnace. Most (87%) households that had a furnace reported that they had changed or cleaned the filter in their furnace at least once during the previous year.

Industrial Water Use, 2009

1. Total water intake in 2009 was 30.6 billion cubic metres. Thermal-electric power producers withdrew 86.0% of this total, manufacturing industries took 12.4% of the total and mining industries were responsible for the remaining 1.6% of the total water intake.
2. Total wastewater discharge in 2009 for the three industry groups was 29.9 billion cubic metres. The thermal-electric power producers accounted for 86.4% of this total, manufacturing industries discharged 11.5% of the total and the mining industries were responsible for 2.1% of the total water discharge.
3. The thermal-electric power producers accounted for 54.3% of the 7.8 billion cubic metres of recirculated water noted in the survey while manufacturing industries recirculated 25.8% of this total and mining industries the remaining 19.9%.
4. Total water costs for the three major industry components measured in the survey were $1,424.3 million.

Environmental Protection Expenditures in the Business Sector, 2010

1. Businesses operating in Canada spent $9.5 billion in 2010 to protect the environment, up 9% from 2008. Following a long-standing trend, the largest share of these expenditures was spent to deal with pollutants after they were created.
2. The oil and gas extraction industry spent more on environmental protection than any other industry surveyed, followed by the electric power generation, transmission and distribution industry, accounting for 42% and 12% of the total for 2010 respectively.
3. Of the $4.2 billion in capital expenditures made for environmental protection, the majority was for pollution abatement and control (35%) followed by pollution prevention (26%).
4. Provincially, businesses in Alberta spent the most on capital projects to protect the environment ($2.0 billion) followed by British Columbia ($496 million). The large investments in Alberta are mainly due to high expenditures made by the oil and gas extraction industry.
5. Operating expenditures for environmental protection totaled $5.3 billion in 2010, up 8% from 2008. The majority of these expenditures were directed towards waste management and sewerage services ($1.6 billion) followed by pollution abatement and control processes ($1.2 billion).
6. The oil and gas extraction industry had the highest operating expenditures for environmental protection in 2010, reporting over half a billion dollars in expenditures each for site reclamation and decommissioning and for pollution prevention processes. Provincially, Alberta had the highest operating expenditures for environmental protection followed by Ontario ($2.1 billion and $1.1 billion respectively).
7. In 2010, businesses spent $455 million on capital projects for renewable energy technologies. Investment was highest for biomass energy technologies which accounted for over three-quarters of the total.

Natural resource wealth, 2011

1. In 2011, the value of Canada's natural resource assets stood at $1.4 trillion, a 16% increase from 2010.
2. In the decade from 2001 to 2011, the value of these assets increased at an annual average rate of 7%.
3. Energy resources accounted for 63% of the value of all natural resource assets in 2011, followed by minerals (26%) and timber (11%).

Energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, 2008

1. From 2007 to 2008, total energy use in Canada declined 2.1%, while emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) fell 2.6%. This occurred as economic growth (as measured by gross domestic product) increased slightly.
2. Both energy intensity and the intensity of GHG emissions declined for many industries in 2008. Intensity is measured in terms of energy use per unit of gross output and emissions per unit of gross output.
3. Half of the top 10 energy consuming industries showed a decline in their energy use required per unit of output.

Survey of Industrial Processes: Retail gasoline outlets, 2009

1. The survey of industrial processes (SIP) is a pilot survey that was conducted to assess the feasibility of collecting data on operational activities and engineering processes of small and medium enterprises (SME) across Canada. For the 2009 reference period, the SIP pilot survey covered all retail gasoline outlets, including marinas with gas docks, across Canada. This release focuses on general statistics relating to equipment, processes, and activities reported by retail gasoline outlets at the national level.