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The Daily

The Daily. Thursday, June 29, 2000

Human activity and the environment

2000

Per-capita consumption of energy doubled in Canada during the past four decades. However, the amount of energy required to produce one dollar of economic output actually fell, according to the fifth edition of Human activity and the environment, the latest compilation of environmental statistics.

Between 1958 and 1997, total annual consumption of energy, which plays a fundamental role in the economy, increased more than 3.5 times.

On a per-capita basis, each Canadian in 1958 consumed slightly less than 167 gigajoules of energy. By 1997, per-capita consumption had doubled to almost 334 gigajoules. (A 30-litre gasoline fill-up contains about one gigajoule of energy - there are 1 000 megajoules in a gigajoule.)

However, energy consumption for every dollar of inflation-adjusted gross domestic product (GDP) - a measure of the energy intensity of the economy - declined during this 40-year period. In 1961, it took about 15.0 megajoules of energy to produce a dollar of economic output. By 1997, it took only about 12.4 megajoules.

This indicator began to drop following the 1974 oil crisis. The four-fold increase in crude oil prices that resulted from the oil crisis provided real incentives to conserve energy.

A second oil price hike in 1979 led to further reductions in energy consumption per dollar of real GDP. Oil prices dropped dramatically in 1986, after which energy consumption per dollar of real GDP stabilized at around 12.5 megajoules.

In 1958, crude oil accounted for 52% of all energy consumed in Canada, and natural gas only 13%. By 1997, the share of crude oil had dropped to 39%, while the share of natural gas had almost tripled to 35%.

Water quality still a major concern

Despite considerable efforts to curb pollution, water quality remains a major concern for Canadians. Municipalities still discharge untreated effluent directly into the environment, industries dispose of a variety of chemical and organic wastes directly or indirectly into water bodies and farm activities lead to run-off of pesticides and manure into groundwater and surface water.

The population served by wastewater treatment increased between 1983 and 1996. Even so, in 1996, an estimated 6% of Canadians, about 1.3 million people, lived in municipalities served with sewers whose wastewater received no form of treatment before being discharged. This proportion was down from 28% in 1983.

During the same period, the proportion receiving tertiary treatment, the highest level of wastewater treatment, increased from 28% to 41%. Thus, not only did more people receive wastewater treatment in 1996 than in 1983, the quality of the treatment they received was substantially better.

In agriculture, commercial fertilizers, livestock manure and pesticides all have a potential impact on water quality. In 1995, animal manure on farms contained about 623 000 metric tonnes of nitrogen and 308 000 metric tonnes of phosphate. Farmers applied nearly 2.3 million metric tonnes of potash, phosphate and nitrogen from commercial fertilizers in the same year.

Government spending on pollution abatement and control

In 1996, government spending on pollution abatement and control totalled just over $5.4 billion, or 0.7% of GDP. During the 1990s, most of the growth in this spending was due to sewage collection and disposal projects.

Spending on pollution abatement and control is relatively small as a proportion of total government expenditures. Since the late 1980s, it has accounted for between 2.3% and 2.9%.

However, such spending has generally been increasing at a greater pace than total government spending. For example, from 1970 to 1996 total government expenditures increased an average of nearly 9% a year, while government spending on pollution abatement and control rose an average of nearly 12% a year.

For its part, the business sector invested $4.9 billion in 1996 on environmental protection.

Canada has more than one-tenth of the world's forests

Canada contains more than 10% of the world's forests and, in fact, half of the nation is covered by forest. Out of a total land area of 921.5 million hectares, 417.6 million hectares are defined as forestland, and much of it remains in a natural state. The nation also accounts for almost 20% of the total value of the global forest products trade.

While the economy is less dependent on this natural resource today than it once was, the logging industry is still an important and active segment of the national economy. One out of every 17 jobs depends on it.

At least 337 communities are considered heavily dependent on the forest. That is, in each of these communities, employment income derived from forest products industries accounts for more than 49% of the community's income.

In 1996, 945,674 people lived in forest-dependent communities, 4.1% more than in 1986. Forest-dependent communities are more numerous in Quebec, although they represented only 2.5% of the provincial population in 1996. British Columbia had the second-highest count of forest-dependent communities; they accounted for about 14% of the province's population.

This report, Statistics Canada's latest compilation of environmental statistics, provides a comprehensive assessment of how Canadians are interacting with the environment. The publication also includes data on a variety of topics such as natural resources, ecosystems, science and technology, and environmental practices.

Human activity and the environment 2000 (11-509-XPE, $75, including CD-ROM) is now available. See How to order publications.

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Murray Cameron (613-951-3740) camemur@statcan.gc.ca, or Martin Lemire (613-951-5739) lemimar@statcan.gc.ca, Environment Accounts and Statistics Division (fax: 613-951-0634).

Population in forest-dependent communities by province

Population in forest-dependent communities by province

1986, 1991 and 1996


  Number of communities 1986 1991 1996 1986 to 1996 1996 share of provincial population
    population % change %
Newfoundland 5 4,626 4,541 4,406 -4.8 0.8
Prince Edward Island - - - - - -
Nova Scotia 7 27,201 26,574 25,692 -5.5 2.8
New Brunswick 40 68,720 68,235 54,084 -21.3 7.3
Quebec 127 197,546 193,436 181,375 -8.2 2.5
Ontario 55 128,568 125,983 126,506 -1.6 1.2
Manitoba 5 11,016 11,024 10,171 -7.7 0.9
Saskatchewan 6 6,259 5,671 5,506 -12.0 0.6
Alberta 3 15,780 17,676 19,413 23.0 0.7
British Columbia 89 448,911 472,330 518,521 15.5 13.9
             
Total 337 908,627 925,470 945,674 4.1 3.3
-Nil or zero.
Note:Communities are considered forest-dependent when more than 49% of their income is derived from forest products industries.
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