Human Activity and the Environment: Accounting for ecosystem change in Canada, 2021

The report provides some of the latest statistics on the extent and condition of Canada’s ecosystems, as well as estimates of the supply and use of selected ecosystem services. It describes the extent of Canada’s main terrestrial, freshwater, marine and coastal ecosystems, their defining characteristics, and changes in land use and climate that drive changes in these ecosystems and their condition. Selected abiotic, biotic and landscape and seascape ecosystem condition characteristics are covered, including water storage and yield, ambient air quality, forest disturbance, urban greenness, landscape fragmentation and modification, sea surface temperature, salinity, species stock status, sea ice and seascape modification. Estimates are also provided for the physical supply of provisioning services (e.g., crop production, fodder production, aquaculture production, wood production, wild animal harvests and water supply), regulating services (e.g., carbon sequestration and storage and air filtration) and use of recreation-related services. This first effort to compile ecosystem accounts has uncovered data gaps and limitations in several areas. Data have been derived to present comprehensive and comparable statistics on ecosystems, with additional context from the literature. Further work and collaboration in identifying data priorities, data gathering and modeling are required to more fully report on Canada’s ecosystems and ecosystem services.