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The following highlights are taken from the environmental statistics program.

Human Activity and the Environment, 2013

Human Activity and the Environment 2013: Measuring ecosystem goods and services in Canada presents information on the quantity, quality and value of Canada’s ecosystems and ecosystem goods and services (EGS). The report presents preliminary results achieved through a two-year interdepartmental project to develop experimental ecosystem accounts and the required statistical infrastructure. It provides an overview of ecosystem accounting and valuation, several measures of the quantity and quality of ecosystems and their goods and services, a case study for valuing EGS, and a research agenda for future work in this area.

The following bullets list some of the main findings from the report:

  1. From 2001 to 2011, evergreen, deciduous and mixedwood forest areas across the country decreased from 3.1 million km2 to 3.0 million km2 (-4%), while shrubland increased from 2.4 million km2 to 2.5 million km2 (+4%).
  2. From 2001 to 2011, the largest changes in land cover occurred as agricultural land reverted to natural landscapes. In the Qu’Appelle, Assiniboine, Lower South Saskatchewan and Lower North Saskatchewan sub-drainage areas (SDAs), a total of 10,475 km2 of agricultural land reverted to natural land cover.
  3. From 2001 to 2011, large shifts from natural landscapes to agricultural land occurred in the Upper South Saskatchewan (1,468 km2) and Thompson (973 km2) SDAs.
  4. In 2010, an estimated 285.8 million tonnes of biomass (agricultural crops, livestock and poultry, milk, maple products and honey, forestry and fisheries) were extracted for human use from Canada’s terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.
  5. On the East coast, commercial fishing, aquaculture and seafood processing activities accounted for 14% of employment in coastal ecodistricts where such activities were found in 2006. On the West coast, the comparable figure was 4%.
  6. The annual value of EGS flows assessed for the Thousand Islands National Park is estimated to be between $12.5 million and $14.7 million (2012 dollars). The annual value of recreational services is estimated at $3.9 million (2012 dollars) using benefit transfer methods.

EnviroStats, 2013

Composting behaviours by Canadian households have increased over the years. Some municipalities have introduced composting programs to increase participation and reduce the amount of waste shipped to landfills.

  1. In 2011, over half of Canadian households (61%) had participated in some form of composting; this is up 38 percentage points from 1994. Forty-five percent of all households reported composting kitchen waste and 68% of households with a lawn or garden reported composting yard waste.
  2. In 2011, 63% of Canadian households that had composted their yard waste and 60% that composted their kitchen waste used a curbside collection system. The rest used a compost bin or pile or some other method to compost.
  3. The type of dwelling a household occupied was directly related to the rate of composting. Over 50% of households in detached or single dwellings reported composting their kitchen waste, compared to 22% of households living in apartments. This reflects the fact that many apartment dwellers can find it difficult to compost.

Survey of Environmental Goods and Services, 2010

  1. Revenues derived by Canadian businesses from sales of environmental goods and services totaled $3.9 billion in 2010.
  2. Slightly more than 41%, or about $909 million, of the revenues from environmental goods were generated through sales of machinery, equipment and products for renewable energy production.
  3. In the services sector, revenues from environmental consulting services amounted to $1.0 billion, 58% of total sales. Site remediation and emergency environmental services generated the remaining $715 million in revenue.
  4. Businesses exported $712 million worth of environmental goods and services in 2010, with the majority (82%) going to the United States. About 1% went to Mexico, while the remainder was distributed among other international markets.

Waste Management Industry Survey: Business and Government Sectors, 2010

  1. Nationally, the amount of non-hazardous waste sent to private and public waste disposal facilities decreased 4% from 2008 to approximately 25 million tonnes in 2010. Quebec and Alberta saw the greatest declines in waste disposal, each decreasing by 6% from 2008. Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Saskatchewan had the highest increases over the same period, at 4% each.
  2. At 37%, residential waste accounted for slightly more than one-third of the total waste disposed in 2010. The disposal of residential waste decreased by 1% and the disposal of non-residential waste fell by 6% between 2008 and 2010.
  3. The amount of waste diverted to recycling or organic processing facilities decreased by 3% from 2008 to 8.1 million tonnes, or 236 kg per person in 2010. This decrease, which was the first since 2002, was fueled by an 11% decrease in non-residential waste diversion. In contrast, residential waste diversion increased by 5%. The largest increase in diversion was for electronic materials, at 60%.
  4. Operating revenues for governments from the provision of waste management services reached $2.3 billion in 2010. Current expenditures increased 12% from 2008, totalling $2.9 billion in 2010. Full-time employment in the government sector of the waste management industry rose by 5%.
  5. Revenues of Canadian businesses providing waste management services increased 2% from 2008 to nearly $6 billion in 2010, while expenditures fell by 3% to just under $5 billion. Full-time employment in the business sector increased by 2% during the same period.

Households and the Environment, 2011

  1. More than two-thirds of Canadian households (68%) reported they drank primarily tap water.
  2. Sixty-three percent of Canadian households had a low-flow shower head.
  3. Forty-seven percent of Canadian households had a low-volume toilet.
  4. More than half (54%) of Canadian households with thermostats had ones that were programmable.
  5. Slightly more than three-quarters (76%) of Canadian households reported having at least one compact fluorescent light.
  6. Thirty-four percent of Canadian households had leftover or expired medication to dispose of. Sixty-three percent of these households returned the medication to the supplier, retailer, pharmacy or doctor for disposal.
  7. Eighteen percent of Canadian households had dead or unwanted cell phones to dispose of. One-quarter took or sent them to a depot or drop-off centre.

Households and the Environment: Energy Use, 2011

  1. Natural gas was the main heating fuel in 50% of Canadian homes.
  2. Electric heating was most commonly reported by households in Quebec (85%), Newfoundland and Labrador (71%) and New Brunswick (66%).
  3. An average household’s energy consumption in 2011 was 105 gigajoules (GJ).
  4. Households in Prince Edward Island had the highest average energy consumption (142 GJ) followed by Alberta (130 GJ).
  5. Households in Quebec (95 GJ) and New Brunswick (92 GJ) had the lowest average energy consumption.
  6. The most widely used energy-saving practices were washing laundry in cold water and turning off computer monitors when not in use; 58% of households used each of these practices.
  7. Between 2008 and 2011, 37% of households that owned their dwelling made at least one improvement to their dwelling to improve their energy efficiency.

Canada's natural resource wealth, 2012

  1. The value of Canada's natural resource assets stood at $785 billion in 2012, down 30% from 2011. The decrease, which came on the heels of a 29% increase in the previous year, was a reflection of lower prices for Canada's natural resources.
  2. In the decade from 2002 to 2012, the value of these assets increased at an annual average rate of 3.5%.
  3. Energy resources accounted for 56% of the value of all natural resource assets in 2012, followed by minerals (29%) and timber (14%).
  4. The value of mineral assets declined 28% from a year earlier to $230 billion in 2012, after increasing by nearly 40% in 2011.

Survey of Drinking Water Plants, 2011

  1. Drinking water plants in Canada supplied 5,103 million cubic metres of potable water in 2011, a reduction of 9% since 2007.
  2. Drinking water plants furnished potable water to nearly 29 million Canadians in 2011. The majority of those (just over 25 million people) received drinking water supplied by surface water sources, which accounted for 89% of the water withdrawn from the environment by drinking water plants.
  3. For plants reporting the percentage of water used by the residential sector, the average person used 251 litres per day at home in 2011.
  4. The residential sector used the largest share of drinking water in 2011, followed by the industrial, commercial, institutional and other non-residential sectors combined. Nationally, 18% of the total water volume produced could not be allocated to a particular sector.
  5. Capital expenditures on additions, expansions, or upgrades to drinking water plants totalled $1,336 million in 2011.

Agricultural Water Use in Canada, 2012

  1. Approximately 1.7 billion cubic metres of water were used for irrigation, in 2012. This was more than double that used in 2010.
  2. The majority of water was used to irrigate field crops (61%) and forage crops (34%).
  3. Just over 7,300 farms, representing 79% of farms that were in scope for the survey, reported irrigating their crops in 2012.
  4. More than 590,000 hectares of land received irrigation in 2012. Field crops (346,530 ha) and forage crops (200,040 ha) were grown on the majority of land that received irrigation.
  5. In 2012, half of farms obtained at least some of their irrigation water from off-farm sources (50%). On-farm surface water was the second most common water source (36%).
  6. Close to 75% of the water used for irrigation came from off-farm sources, while 20% came from on-farm surface water and 5% came from on-farm underground sources.

Farm Environmental Management Survey, 2011

  1. In 2011, 35% of Canadian farms had a formal environmental farm plan (EFP).
  2. Of the farms with an EFP, the majority had either fully or partially implemented the beneficial management practices recommended in their EFP (95%).
  3. The main reason given for not implementing beneficial management practices was economic pressures (55%).
  4. Almost four out of ten farms in Canada had received financial assistance to implement the beneficial management practices included in their EFP.
  5. Approximately 70% of Canadian crop farms applied herbicides to control weeds but only 15% applied insecticides for pest control.
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