Aquatic bird eggs are being collected for contaminants analysis. Egg collections in the Peace-Athabasca Delta area support Parks Canada’s activities at Wood Buffalo National Park and the multi-stakeholder Peace-Athabasca Ecosystem Monitoring Program. This monitoring activity employs repeated censuses of birds and builds on initial egg collections made in 2009 from Egg Island (Lake Athabasca) and Wood Buffalo National Park, with the goal of evaluating contaminant burdens, contaminant sources and changes in sources through time. Egg samples are collected from colonial waterbirds California Gulls (Larus californicus), Herring Gulls (Larus argentatus), Ring-billed Gulls (Larus delawarensis), Caspian Terns (Hydroprogne caspia) and Common Terns (Sterna hirundo) and insectivorous birds Bank Swallows (Riparia riparia), Cliff Swallows (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) and Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) to monitor health and contaminant levels of aquatic and terrestrial birds in the oil sands region and in reference areas. The samples collected are analysed for oil sands-related contaminants including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and metals such as mercury (Hg) and arsenic (As).

The Water Survey of Canada (WSC) is the national authority responsible for the collection, interpretation and dissemination of standardized water resource data and information in Canada. In partnership with the provinces, territories and other agencies, WSC operates over 2800 active hydrometric gauges across the country. WSC maintains and provides real-time and historic hydrometric data for some 8000 active and discontinued stations. This dataset consists of a set of polygons that represent the drainage areas of both active and discontinued discharge stations. Users are encouraged to report any errors using the “Contact Us” webpage at: https://weather.gc.ca/mainmenu/contact_us_e.html?site=water

Tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) nest boxes are installed in oil sands area and in reference locations to monitor contaminant levels and impacts on tree swallow nestlings. The exposure to tree swallow nestlings to air-borne oil sands-related contaminants such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) is assessed using passive air samplers. Measures of avian health are examined in relation to location of sampling and contaminants measured.

The Wastewater Systems Effluent Regulations (WSER), developed under the Fisheries Act, came into force in 2012 to manage wastewater releases by systems that collect an average daily influent volume of 100 cubic metres or more. The WSER also does not apply to any wastewater system located in the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and north of the 54th parallel in the provinces of Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador. The WSER set national baseline effluent quality standards that are achievable through secondary wastewater treatment. The WSER require owners or operators of wastewater systems with combined sewers to submit an annual report on the total volume and the number of days wastewater is discharged per month via combined sewer overflow (CSO) points as a result of precipitation. The map below shows the volume of effluent (in cubic metres) discharged in a year from all CSO points situated within the collection area of a wastewater system. For the most part, the volumes provided to ECCC are estimates. Please note, a value of “999999999” in the dataset indicates that the volume data is unavailable and it does not mean that a volume of 999,999,999 m3 was released within the collection area of a wastewater system. The map is available in both ESRI REST (to use with ARC GIS) and WMS (open source) formats. For more information about the individual reporting wastewater systems, datasets are available in either CSV or XLS formats. Data from Quebec As of 2018, no combined sewer overflow volumes from Quebec municipalities are available since an equivalency agreement is now in effect. More information on the wastewater sector including the regulations, agreements, contacts and resource documents is available at: https://www.canada.ca/wastewater

Growing Degree Days (GDDs) are used to estimate the growth and development of plants and insects during the growing season. Insect and plant development are very dependent on temperature and the daily accumulation of heat. The amount of heat required to move a plant or pest to the next development stage remains constant from year to year. However, the actual amount of time (days) can vary considerably from year to year because of weather conditions. Base temperatures are a point below which development does not occur for the organism in question. Base 15 temperatures are commonly used for general insect development. These values are calculated across Canada in 10x10 km cells.

The Wastewater Systems Effluent Regulations (WSER), developed under the Fisheries Act, came into force in 2012 to manage wastewater releases by systems that collect an average daily influent volume of 100 cubic metres or more. The WSER also does not apply to any wastewater system located in the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and north of the 54th parallel in the provinces of Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador. The WSER set national baseline effluent quality standards that are achievable through secondary wastewater treatment. The map below presents the wastewater system locations in Canada and the type of treatment they utilize (mechanical, lagoon or no treatment). The data is based on the information submitted to Environment and Climate Change Canada as of November 2022. Note that this layer does not represent the level of wastewater treatment or whether the system complies with the WSER. The map is available in both ESRI REST (to use with ARC GIS) and WMS (open source) formats. For more information about the individual reporting wastewater systems, datasets are available in either Excel or CSV formats at the resource listed below: “Wastewater Systems Effluent Regulations Reported Data”. Data from Quebec and Yukon The data for Quebec municipalities (after 2017) is provided to the department separately through the equivalency agreement that was finalized in October 2018. Beginning in 2015, the data reported for the Yukon is provided to the department separately through an equivalency agreement finalized in 2014. More information on the wastewater sector including the regulations, agreements, contacts and resource documents is available at: https://www.canada.ca/wastewater

Maximum Temperature represents the highest recorded temperature value (°C) at each location for a given time period. Time periods include the previous 24 hours and the previous 7 days from the available date where a climate day starts at 0600UTC.

Seasonal and annual multi-model ensembles of projected relative change (also known as anomalies) in mean precipitation based on an ensemble of twenty-nine Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) global climate models are available for 1901-2100. Projected relative change in mean precipitation is with respect to the reference period of 1986-2005 and expressed as a percentage (%). The 5th, 25th, 50th, 75th and 95th percentiles of the ensembles of mean precipitation change are available for the historical time period, 1901-2005, and for emission scenarios, RCP2.6, RCP4.5 and RCP8.5, for 2006-2100. Twenty-year average changes in mean precipitation (%) for four time periods (2021-2040; 2041-2060; 2061-2080; 2081-2100), with respect to the reference period of 1986-2005, for RCP2.6, RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 are also available in a range of formats. The median projected change across the ensemble of CMIP5 climate models is provided. Note: Projections among climate models can vary because of differences in their underlying representation of earth system processes. Thus, the use of a multi-model ensemble approach has been demonstrated in recent scientific literature to likely provide better projected climate change information.

The Wastewater Systems Effluent Regulations (WSER), developed under the Fisheries Act, came into force in 2012 to manage wastewater releases by systems that collect an average daily influent volume of 100 cubic metres or more. The WSER also does not apply to any wastewater system located in the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and north of the 54th parallel in the provinces of Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador. The WSER set national baseline effluent quality standards that are achievable through secondary wastewater treatment. The province of Quebec provided some combined sewer overflow data for 2020, which includes information on whether a discharge occurred at a combined sewer overflow point during the year. The map below shows the number of CSO points with at least one overflow event within each wastewater system. The map is available in both ESRI REST (to use with ARC GIS) and WMS (open source) formats. For more information about the individual reporting wastewater systems, datasets are available in either CSV or XLS formats. More information on the wastewater sector including the regulations, agreements, contacts and resource documents is available at: https://www.canada.ca/wastewater