Statistics Canada
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2006, Revised
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Socio-economic information
Data for the Socio-economic Information module are divided into the categories below and are presented along with key highlights. Where possible, they are presented back until 1980. Data are presented for different spatial levels: the nation, the provinces and territories and drainage areas, 1 which are particularly useful for analyzing how human activities may affect water. The level of spatial aggregation offered depends on the characteristics of the source data.
Land cover
Land cover describes the physical features found on the surface of the land and describes the type of environment at a particular location. It is a determinant of many processes related to trends in the environmental sustainability indicators, including soil erosion, habitat, carbon sequestration and others.
Canada’s territory is vast and varied, ranging from the mountains and prairies of the west to the rivers and lowlands of the east and the tundra of the north (map 1 ). In total, the nation comprises some 10 million square kilometres (table 1 ).
Forests cover 38% of Canada’s land mass. Barren areas and areas with low vegetation cover another 26% of the total, while shrubland and cropland comprise 10% and 7% respectively. Disturbance areas, snow and ice and other land cover areas account for the remainder (table 1 ). Summary data on land cover are presented below. The map and table provide estimates of land cover types for both major drainage areas and sub-drainage areas.
A very small proportion of Canada’s total land area is devoted to urban uses. However this area has grown very rapidly. Between 1971 and 2001, urban areas in Canada grew by 15 thousand square kilometres, an increase of 96% (chart 1 ).
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Population
Population size, distribution and density partly determine the impacts that human activities have on the environment. Between 1980 and 2005, Canada’s population grew by 32%, from 24.5 million to 32.3 million people (table 2 ).
Canada, with 3.3 people per square kilometre, has one of the lowest population densities in the world (table 3 ); however, Canadians increasingly live in urban centres, most of which are located in a relatively narrow strip along the Canada-U.S. border. This has had consequences for urban air quality. From 1981 to 2001, 97% of total population growth occurred in these centres (chart 3 ).
In 2001, 62% of Canadians lived in the St. Lawrence drainage area (table 4 ). Drainage areas where the population is dense may experience increased stress on water quality from waste water discharges and other uses.
Population estimates and basic population characteristics from the Census of Population are presented below by province and territory and for sub-drainage areas across Canada.
Tables
Health
Canadians largely think of themselves as healthy people: compared with people in most other countries, we live longer and suffer from fewer chronic illnesses and disabilities as we age. 2 Life expectancy at birth stood at 79.9 years in 2003 (table 17 ), almost two years higher than the OECD average, 3 and the longest it has ever been.
Human health is influenced by many interacting factors such as age, sex, place of residence, and socio-economic status, all of which can have a notable impact on well-being. Individual behaviours, genetics and environmental factors, such as temperature extremes and air or water pollution can also have an impact on health. Air pollution can aggravate respiratory conditions, especially for those suffering from lung infections, bronchitis, emphysema and asthma. In 2005, 8% of Canadians over the age of 12 had been diagnosed with asthma (table 14 ). In the same year, 32% of Canadian households were aware of poor air quality advisories in their area. Of these households, 39% made changes to their activity or routine (table 18 ).
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Gross domestic product, employment and international trade
The environment is an essential backdrop for economic activity. Not only do we extract raw materials and energy from it, but the environment also serves as a repository for the wastes produced by economic activity.
Changes in the environmental sustainability indicators can be compared with growth in economic activity. Gross output, which measures the total value of production, reached $2.2 trillion in 2002 (table 24 ). An alternate, more commonly used measure of economic output—real gross domestic product (GDP)—measures the unduplicated value of all goods and services produced in Canada corrected for inflation. Real GDP increased by 94% from 1980 to 2004. Over the same period, total primary energy consumption increased 41% (chart 11 ). These figures show that efficiencies have been realized in the use of energy, with energy consumption per unit of economic activity dropping 27% from 1980 to 2004.
The structure of the economy and distribution of activities across the country help to explain trends in the indicators both nationally and regionally. Each industry has different impacts in terms of water usage, emission of pollutants and greenhouse gases. Service industries (trade, transportation, travel and communications) made up 68% of Canada’s GDP in 2005; goods-producing industries, (manufacturing, construction and resource industries) accounted for the remainder (table 23 ).
Energy, industrial goods such as metal ores, metals, chemicals and fertilizers, forestry and agricultural products account for an important share of Canada’s exports. Boosted by recent strength in commodity markets, the proportion of these goods in total exports rose to 53% in 2005, with energy leading the way (table 27 ).
The tables below provide basic information about Canada’s economy—gross domestic product, gross output, labour force characteristics and international trade.
Tables
Energy
Few other activities are as important to the economy as the production and consumption of energy. At the same time, these activities have a wide range of environmental impacts. Effects include emissions of greenhouse gases and airborne contaminants such as nitrogen oxides, sulphur oxides and particulate matter, and the disruption of rivers and lakes for hydroelectric power generation and for cooling purposes at thermal generating stations.
From 1980 to 2004, primary energy production rose 94% to 16.6 million terajoules, largely as a result of increases in the production of natural gas and crude oil. Primary electricity production (from hydro and nuclear sources) increased 48% (table 28 ). In 2005, 60% of electric power was generated from hydro power, 15% from nuclear sources, while the remainder was produced using fossil fuels through conventional steam and combustion generation (chart 13 ).
Total energy use increased 23% from 1990 to 2002 to 10.3 million terajoules, with the business sector responsible for the largest part of the increase. The electric power generation, transmission and distribution industry accounted for 22% of energy usage for the business sector, followed by the oil and gas extraction industry (14%) and the transportation industries 4 (11%) (table 33 ).
Although per capita energy use for heating, lighting and appliances declined 5% from 1990 to 2002, household energy use rose 8% due to increases in the size of Canada’s population (chart 15 ). The type of energy used by households has changed over the last several decades. Between 1981 and 2003, the proportion of households heating their homes with oil fell from 34% to 13%. Meanwhile, the proportion of households heating their homes with natural gas rose from 42% to 50%, while the proportion heating with electricity rose from 21% to 33% (chart 16 ). Compared to oil, heating with natural gas or electricity (when produced with low emission technologies such as nuclear and hydro power) produces fewer greenhouse gas emissions 5 and air pollutants. 6
Canadians continued to increase their use of gasoline and diesel fuel. By 2004, retail pump sales of gasoline had increased 24% over 1990, reaching 36.6 billion litres, the highest level ever recorded. Sales of diesel increased 51% over the same period, reaching 4.6 billion litres (table 36 ).
The way in which fossil fuels are used affects the impact their use has on the environment. Small gasoline engines that power devices such as lawnmowers emit relatively high amounts of pollutants that can adversely affect air quality. In 2006, an estimated 67% of households owned a gasoline powered lawnmower, 21% a snow blower and 5% a leaf blower (table 39 ).
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Transportation
Transportation is vital to a well-functioning economy and society. However, transportation also contributes to environmental stresses, in part through the release of pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions.
Driving private vehicles remains the preferred means of personal transportation. In 2005, over 19.3 million road motor vehicles were registered for use in Canada (table 40 ). In general, cars are more fuel-efficient than larger SUVs, trucks and vans. In 2005, cars accounted for more than half (54%) of the total kilometres driven by light vehicles, 7 followed by vans (19%), pickups (18%), SUVs (8%) and station wagons (2%) (table 41 ).
Four out of five (81%) commuters travelled to work as a driver or passenger of a car, truck or van in 2001. In contrast, only 10% of Canadians commuted using public transit. Another 8% commuted by walking or cycling (chart 21 ).
In Canada, the vast majority of goods are transported by water, rail and road. While freight transport has increased for all three modes, the trucking industry in particular has seen a dramatic rise, caused in part by the advent of just-in-time delivery. Since 1990, freight carried by the for-hire trucking industry increased 75%, from 174 million tonnes to 305 million tonnes in 2003 (chart 17 ).
Tables
Agriculture
Between 1981 and 2001, the number of farms decreased 22% (table 51 ), while cropland areas increased 18% (table 55 ). Farms have been getting larger. The average farm in 2001 was 2.7 square kilometres, compared with 2.1 square kilometres two decades earlier (table 53 ).
Agricultural activities have the potential to impact the environment. Agricultural fertilizer use and improper manure management have been linked to high concentrations of nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus in some water bodies. 8 Pesticides, used to control weeds, insects and other pests, can contaminate water through runoff and infiltration into groundwater and can potentially harm non-target organisms. Effects vary depending on the chemical used along with the level and duration of exposure.
From 1981 to 2001, real farm business expenditures on chemical products such as herbicides, insecticides and fungicides increased 132% (table 60 ), while spending on fertilizers increased 75% (table 62 ). Over the same period, fertilized areas increased 30% to 240,146 square kilometres, or approximately two-thirds of the total area under crops (table 55 and table 63 ).
Some agricultural activities also contribute to emissions of methane and nitrous oxide, both potent greenhouse gases. The digestive systems of ruminants—including cattle—produce methane, which is a greenhouse gas. Methane is also produced when manure is stored under anaerobic conditions. Farmers had over 15.6 million cattle and calves on agricultural operations in 2001 (table 58 ). These and other livestock produced 177.5 million tonnes of manure in 2001, with the largest amounts produced in drainage areas in southern Alberta, Ontario and Quebec (table 85 ).
The tables below include annual data on livestock and crop production, as well as data from the Census of Agriculture, presented both by province and by drainage area. These variables detail several aspects of farm practices potentially related to trends in the environmental sustainability indicators for air quality and, especially, water quality.
Agricultural activity
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Agricultural activity by drainage area
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Environmental management
Despite national efforts to protect the environment and reduce emissions of pollutants and wastes, industry is still a major source of greenhouse gas emissions and has an impact on air and water quality. Recognizing their impact on the environment, many firms have made significant efforts to invest in environmental protection.
Capital expenditures on environmental protection increased from $1,734 million in 1998 to $2,947 million in 2002. The petroleum and coal products industry contributed over a quarter (28%) of the total expenditures on environmental protection in 2002, followed by the oil and gas extraction industry (19%) and the electric power generation industry (17%). End-of-pipe pollution abatement and pollution prevention processes accounted for just over 79% of the total share of expenditures.
Operating expenditures on environmental protection rose from $2,990 million in 1998 to $3,832 million in 2002. In 2002, major contributors included the oil and gas extraction (14%); primary metals (13%); and pulp, paper, and paperboard mills (11%) industries (table 86 ).
Solid waste potentially contributes to changes in all three environmental sustainability indicators. For example, decomposing materials in landfills produce methane and liquid contaminants can sometimes leach into surrounding groundwater. Recycling and modern landfill technologies can reduce some of these impacts.
From 2002 to 2004, waste disposal increased 5% to 25.3 million tonnes. At the same time, waste diversion increased 18%, with 7.9 million tonnes of waste prepared for recycling in 2004, up from 6.6 million tonnes in 2002 (table 87 ).
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