**Permafrost** is any soil or rock whose temperature has remained below 0°C for years. In the extreme north of Quebec, it is omnipresent and very thick. At its boreal margin, further south, it appears in the landscape in the form of isolated thin plates, whose thickness is generally less than 10 m. Permafrost contains ice in various forms, whose origin is closely linked to the sedimentary characteristics and drainage conditions of the land. The mapping of permafrost conditions for Nunavik (territory located north of the 55th parallel), carried out by the Center for Nordic Studies at Laval University, was done by applying a simple model called TTOP (Temperature at the Top Of Permafrost) for the period from 2000 to 2016. The results of the model are presented in the form of a raster file that illustrates the distribution of continuous, discontinuous, and sporadic permafrost, as well as isolated islands. Under the effect of global warming or poorly adapted human activities, permafrost heats up or even thaws, which leads to settlements and ground movements affecting ecosystems as well as infrastructures. Thus, the susceptibility of the territory to thermokarstic subsidence was evaluated for the same territory taking into account the ice content and the temperature at the top of the permafrost. A matrix file (raster) of the susceptibility of the territory to ground subsidence associated with permafrost thaw presents three susceptibility classes (high, moderate, and low) as well as areas generally without permafrost. **This third party metadata element was translated using an automated translation tool (Amazon Translate).**

The Inuit Regions, also known as the Inuit Nunangat, dataset contains the geographical boundaries of the 4 Inuit Regions in Canada: Inuvialuit, Nunavut, Nunavik and Nunatsiavut. The boundaries, land only, have been drawn as per information defined in each land claim agreement. The Inuit Regions (Inuit Nunangat) geographical boundaries are approximate and should be used for illustration purposes only. This dataset is Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC) and Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) official source for Inuit regions on maps.

In 2022, the federal government launched the second phase of the Oceans Protection Plan, a vast interdepartmental program designed to enhance marine safety in Canada by improving our ability to prevent and respond to marine incidents. For the Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) of Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), this means filling gaps in our knowledge of marine and coastal bird species. In order to identify these gaps for the province of Quebec, we carried out a prioritization exercise in 2022 and concluded that major efforts needed to be made in the Nunavik marine region, since data were lacking in several sectors and for several species. Understanding the vulnerability of wildlife species over time and space will help us, among other things, to assess risks and act quickly and appropriately in the event of incidents affecting the marine environment, such as an oil spill or shipwreck. Another important objective of the Oceans Protection Plan is to implement sustainable partnerships with the Inuit in order to share our respective knowledge of migratory birds, develop joint projects and support Inuit-led marine bird projects. It is in this context that ground surveys of marine bird nests on the islands of Nunavik are being carried out by the CWS, in collaboration with Nunavimmiut. The main objective of these surveys is to update available data on the abundance and distribution of nesting seabirds in this area, particularly Common Eiders (Somateria mollissima). On each island visited, a team follows transects distributed from one end to the other and across the entire width of the island, in order to obtain complete and systematic coverage of the island and to count all the nests present. The spacing between transects can vary according to the size of the island, its topography and the density of nests present. This database provides access to the survey results and shows, for each island surveyed, the number of nests of each species present. In the case of the Black Guillemot (Cepphus grylle), since nests are very difficult to find, it is rather the number of adults present around the island that is reported. Finally, in some cases, notably for gulls (Larus spp.), if no nests were found, but adults were observed on or around the island, then a number of adult individuals was reported.

In 2022, the federal government launched the second phase of the Oceans Protection Plan, a vast interdepartmental program designed to enhance marine safety in Canada by improving our ability to prevent and respond to marine incidents. For the Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) of Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), this means filling gaps in our knowledge of marine and coastal bird species. In order to identify these gaps for the province of Quebec, we carried out a prioritization exercise in 2022. We concluded that major efforts needed to be made in the Nunavik marine region, since data were lacking in several sectors and for several species. Understanding the vulnerability of wildlife species over time and space will help us, among other things, to assess risks and act quickly and appropriately in the event of incidents affecting the marine environment, such as an oil spill or shipwreck. Another important objective of the Oceans Protection Plan is to implement sustainable partnerships with the Inuit in order to share our respective knowledge of migratory birds, develop joint projects and support Inuit-led marine bird projects. It is in this context that aerial inventories aimed at identifying avian diversity, counting seabirds and coastal birds and better understanding their distribution at different times of the year have been taking place in Nunavik since 2023. These inventories are particularly aimed at sites of large gatherings, such as molting and staging areas, where birds are more vulnerable. During flights, the crew scans the sea, bays, river mouths and coasts for single birds or groups of birds. When birds are spotted, the number of individuals is estimated and a formal identification is made to the most precise taxonomic level possible, usually species or genus. In some cases, particularly for species that are more difficult to identify or in the case of very large groups, high-resolution photographs are taken to confirm identifications and estimates of the number of individuals a posteriori. Where possible, individuals are identified by age and sex. For the purposes of these inventories, flight-capable birds are considered adults unless immature plumage is easily identifiable from a moving aircraft. Thus, most ducks, as well as shorebirds, are considered adults as soon as they are able to fly. Occasionally, the aircraft lands on the ground for short periods to allow the team to refine the identification of the species, genus and age of the birds. These observations are then included in the database. Observations made over land, during various trips, are also recorded opportunistically. Source to quote : Canadian Wildlife Service - Quebec Region. Aerial surveys of marine and coastal birds in Nunavik. Data collected as part of the Oceans Protection Plan. Version October 2025.

The Program for Regional and International Monitoring (PRISM) was designed by biologists and researchers from the Canadian and United States Governments (Canadian Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) to address concerns about shorebird population declines first noted on migration surveys. To set population targets and understand the conservation and management concerns needed to conserve and recover shorebird populations we needed to first know how many shorebirds are actually present. Previous to Arctic PRISM, population size estimates for non-harvested species came from expert opinion supported by migration counts, where birds are dispersed widely and length of stay issues made converting counts to population size difficult, or from localized or aerial surveys on the non-breeding grounds where again, only a subset of the widely-dispersed, and continuously moving on a large-scale, birds could be surveyed. Next, we needed to know population trends, and their severity. To address these crucial information gaps, PRISM consists of four survey components: (1) Arctic breeding, (2) Migration, (3) Neotropical and (4) Tropical surveys. Although all four survey components have been initiated, the Arctic breeding survey component -- Arctic PRISM -- is the furthest into the design and implementation. The goals of the broader PRISM are to: 1. Estimate population size. 2. Monitor trends in population size. 3. Monitor shorebirds at stopover locations. 4. Determine distribution, abundance, and habitats utilized throughout the year. 5. Assist local managers in meeting shorebird conservation goals. Arctic PRISM is designed to address all of the broader PRISM goals except Goal 3. Arctic PRISM is comprised of three Tiers. Tier 1 is North American arctic-wide surveys conducted at a large number of sites to get statistically rigorous (unbiased), survey-based, species-specific population estimates for Arctic-breeding shorebirds (PRISM Goal 1). These surveys are referred to as the ‘rapid surveys’ as the methodology is to visit a plot (relatively) quickly and infrequently and cover a large survey study area (PRISM Goal 4). The Tier 1 surveys are conducted in Rounds to calculate population trends (PRISM Goal 2) and changes in distribution over time (PRISM Goal 4). There is a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and US Geological Survey mirror to these surveys covering the Alaskan portion of the North American arctic. Tier 2 is ‘intensive surveys’ at a smaller number of non-random sites located in areas with known concentrations of shorebirds. The repeated, in-depth data collected at these long-term study sites provides annual information on the breeding biology of shorebirds that cannot be captured during the Tier 1 surveys, and provides a shorter-term assessment of site-specific population trends (PRISM Goal 2). At these sites are also where we monitor shorebird demographics and investigate potential causes of population declines. Tier 3 uses the Northwest Territories-Nunavut Bird Checklist Program (now with eBird) to non-systematically track changes in shorebird abundance and distribution across the Canadian Arctic (PRISM Goal 4). All three Tiers of Arctic PRISM are being used to inform conservation management (PRISM Goal 5) through use of the data in environmental assessment, species at risk (assessment, critical habitat), and protected areas (designation, monitoring) processes. While Arctic PRISM was originally designed with shorebirds in mind, early in the implementation we discovered the methodology would result in population size and trend estimates for nearly all of the non-colonial arctic-breeding birds. This dataset is contains the bird and habitat data collected as part of Arctic PRISM using the rapid survey methodology (and adjacent methodologies: non-systematic area search methodology and spaghetti transects methodology; primarily as part of Arctic PRISM Tier1) in the Canadian arctic (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Nunavik) from 1994 to the annotated data release cut-off. TIER1: RAPID SURVEY, NON-SYSTEMATIC AREA SEARCH AND SPAGHETTI TRANSECT METHODOLOGY We divided the Canadian arctic into strata comprised of region, subregion and GIS-derived habitat type. Within each stratum, a random sample of all available plots was selected to be surveyed (rapid surveys (methodology) of rapid plots (plot type). Plots were typically 300m x 400m or 400m x 400min size. Plots were surveyed during courtship through early incubation by observers walking systematically through the plot quickly on foot and recording all species present, and also completing an assessment of the habitat from a ground perspective. Similar survey methodologies (‘non-systematic area search’ (methodology) and ‘spaghetti transect’ (methodology)) were conducted in a less systematic method than the standard rapid survey (methodology) on plots of various sizes, typically reconnaissance plots (plot type) to help inform future rapid surveys (methodology) of rapid plots (plot type). Rapid surveys (methodology) were also done on intensive plots (plot type). These intensive plots (plot type) are non-randomly selected where birds are known to be breeding, and to capture a variety of species. Intensive surveys (method) of intensive plots (plot type), and other associated methodologies related to Arctic PRISM Tier 2, are not included in this dataset. For the detailed methodology used in Arctic PRISM, see Smith et al. 2025 or Bart and Johnston (eds) 2012. Smith, Paul A., Jonathan Bart, Victoria H. Johnston, Yves Aubry, Stephen C. Brown, Charles M. Francis, R. I. Guy Morrison, Lisa D. Pirie, and Jennie Rausch. 2025. Abundance and distribution of birds from comprehensive surveys of the Canadian Arctic, 1994–2018. Ornithological Applications, v. 127(4), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1093/ornithapp/duaf050 Bart, Jonathan and Victoria H. Johnston (editors). 2012. Arctic shorebirds in North America: a decade of monitoring. Studies in Avian Biology Monograph Series No. 44, University of California Press, Berkeley, CA. 302pp. https://www.ucpress.edu/books/arctic-shorebirds-in-north-america/ These data were exported from the Arctic PRISM database on 2026-02-13. More details are available in the metadata document for download. CWS-North DatasetID: 007_1