Confidential when completed. This survey is conducted under the authority of the Statistics Act, Revised Statutes of Canada, 1985, c. S-19. Completion of this questionnaire is a legal requirement under the Statistics Act.

The purpose of this survey is to obtain information on the crops you have seeded or intend to seed this year as well as hay and pasture land.

Statistics Canada is prohibited by law from publishing any statistics which would divulge information obtained from this survey that relates to any identifiable business, institution or individual without the previous written consent of that business, institution or individual. The data reported on this questionnaire will be treated in confidence, used for statistical purposes and published in aggregate form only. The confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act are not affected by either the Access to Information Act or any other Legislation.

Statistics Canada advises you that there could be a risk of disclosure of your information if you choose to return it by fax, e-mail or other electronic means. Upon receipt of your information, Statistics Canada will provide the level of protection required by the Statistics Act.

Review the information on the label. If any information is incorrect or missing, please make the necessary corrections in the boxes below.

• Farm name (if applicable)
• Family name
• First name and initial
• Number and street name
• Postal code
• City
• Telephone
• E-mail address (if applicable)
• Partner's name (if applicable)
• Telephone
• Partner's name (is applicable)
• Telephone
• Corporation name (if applicable)

Section A - Grains in Storage

The following questions refer to grains in storage on your farm on March 31, 2009.

Include:

• grains harvested in or prior to 2008;
• grains owned by someone else but stored on your farm;
• grains purchased for animal feed or seed.

Exclude:

• brand name feeds that were purchased (feed rations);
• grains that you own but are stored off your farm (e.g. elevator, another farm, storage ticket, condominium storage).

Important: Any crops harvested as forage or green silage should not be included as "grains in storage".

1. Will you have any grains in storage on your farm on March 31, 2009?

• Yes
• No (go to Section B)

2. Please indicate the expected quantity in storage on your farm on March 31, 2009, using the appropriate UOM for the following crops:

1. Barley
2. Canola
3. Corn for Grain (include seed corn but exclude sweet corn)
   3. What is the percent moisture content of the Corn for Grain in storage? (If Quebec respondent, go to question 4. Else, go to the next crop. If this is the last crop, go to Section B.)
4. Dry Beans, Coloured, total
5. Dry Beans, White Pea (Navy)
6. Mixed Grains (two or more grains sown together)
7. Oats
8. Rye (Spring and Fall)
9. Soybeans
10. Wheat, Spring (If Quebec respondent, go to question 6. Else, go to Section B.)
11. Wheat, Winter (If Quebec respondent, go to question 6. Else, go to Section B.)

(go to Section B)

Quebec

Quebec respondents only

4. What percentage of your Corn for Grain in storage is intended for the commercial market?

5. What percentage of your Spring Wheat in storage is intended for human consumption?

6. What percentage of your Winter Wheat in storage is intended for human consumption?

(Go to the next crop. If this is the last criop, so to Section B.)

The following questions deal with all land operated.

Include:

• Land rented from other operations and Crown or public land used for agricultural purposes.

Exclude:

• Land rented to other operations.

Section B - Fall Rye and Winter Wheat

1. Did you seed any Fall Rye or Winter Wheat in the fall of 2008?

• Yes
• No (go to Section C)

2. Which crops did you seed?

• Fall rye
• Winter wheat

(go to the next question)

3. Please indicate the area seeded and the area remaining to be harvested as grain, using the appropriate UOM.

1. Fall Rye
2. Winter Wheat
3. Total remaining to harvest as grain area (sum of 3a to 3b)

(go to Section C)

Quebec

Quebec respondents only

4. What percentage of your Winter Wheat remaining to be harvested as grain, is intended for human consumption?

(go to Section C)

Section C - Seeding Intentions

1. Do you plan to seed any crops in 2009?

• Yes
• No (go to Section D)

2. Please indicate the area you plan to seed using the appropriate UOM for the following crops.

1. Barley (include Winter Barley seeded in the fall of 2008)
2. Barley (include Winter Barley seeded in the fall of 2008)
3. Canola (include Winter Canola seeded in the fall of 2008)
4. Corn for Grain (include seed corn but exclude sweet corn)
5. Dry Beans, Black (Black Turtle, Preto)
6. Dry Beans, Cranberry (Romano)
7. Dry Beans, Dark Red Kidney
8. Dry Beans, Faba (Fava, Broad)
9. Dry Beans, Great Northern
10. Dry Beans, Light Red Kidney
11. Dry Beans, Pinto
12. Dry Beans, Small Red (Red Mexican)
13. Dry Beans, White Pea (Navy)
14. Dry Beans, Other and unknown
15. Fodder Corn
16. Mixed Grains (two or more grains sown together)
17. Oats
18. Potatoes
19. Soybeans
20. Spring Rye
21. Sugar Beets
22. Tobacco
23. Wheat, Spring (If Quebec respondent, go to Question 3. Else, go to the next crop. If this is the last crop, go to Section D.)
24. Other Field Crops (list in comments)
25. Total seeded area (sum of 2a to 2x)

(go to Section D)

Quebec

Quebec respondents only

3. What percentage of your Spring Wheat area is intended for human consumption?

(Go to the next crop. If this is the last crop, go to Section D.)

Section D - Tame Hay and Forage Seed

Alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures

Include

• Alfalfa and alfalfa mixed with varieties of clover, trefoil, bromegrass, timothy, orchardgrass, canarygrass, ryegrass, fescue, soudan-sorghum and wheatgrass.

Exclude

• All forage crop area harvested or to be harvested for commercial seed purposes, crops harvested or that will be harvested green to be used to feed animals and under-seeded areas.

Other tame hay

Include

• Varieties of clover, trefoil, bromegrass, timothy, orchardgrass, canarygrass, ryegrass, fescue, soudan-sorghum and wheatgrass.

Exclude

• Alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures, all forage crop area harvested or to be harvested for commercial seed purposes and crops harvested or that will be harvested green to be used to feed animals.

Forage seed

Include

• All forage crop area harvested or to be harvested for seed purposes such as alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures, varieties of clover, trefoil, bromegrass, timothy, orchardgrass, canarygrass, ryegrass, fescue, soudan-sorghum and wheatgrass.

Exclude

• Forage crops harvested or to be harvested for hay or to be used for pasture.

1. Will you have any Tame Hay or Forage Seed in 2009?

• You
• No (go to Section E)

2. Which crops will you have?

• alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures (go to question 3)
• other tame hay (go to question 4)
• forage seed (go to question 5)

Alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures

3. What will be your total area of alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures? (exclude under-seeded areas.)

(Go to next crop. If this is last crop, go to question 6.)

Other tame hay

4. What will be your total area of all other tame hay? (Exclude under-seeded areas.)

(Go to next crop. If this is last crop, go to question 6.)

Forage seed

5. What will be your total area of forage seed? (exclude under-seeded areas.)

(go to next question)

6. Total Tame Hay and Forage Seed areas (sum of D3 to D5)

• unit of measure

(go to Section E)

Section E - Land Balance

Land for pasture or grazing: All land which is being used for pasture, grazing, native pasture, native hay, rangeland and grazable bush used for the grazing or feeding of livestock.

Exclude

• Areas to be harvested as dry hay, silage or forage seed;
• Community pastures, co-operative grazing associations or grazing reserves.

If a field is used the same year for harvesting Tame Hay and as a pasture, count it only once as a Tame Hay field.

Other land:

• Area of farmstead: farm buildings, farmyard, home garden and roads;
• Idle land: improved land which was cropped, pastured or used for agricultural purposes last year, but is not being cropped this year;
• Fall crop area ploughed under but not reseeded;
• New broken land: land which has been cleared and prepared for cultivation but will not be cropped;
• Winterkilled land: winterkilled area from crops sown in the previous fall, which will not be reseeded or pastured to another crop;
• Wasteland, woodland, cut-over land, slough, swamp, marshland and irrigation ditches;
• Summerfallow land: land on which no crop will be grown during the year, but which may be cultivated or worked for weed control and/or moisture conservation, or it may simply be left to lay fallow in order to renew the soil;
• Chemfallow: summerfallow where herbicides are used without working the soil;
• Fruits and vegetables, mushrooms, maple trees, Christmas trees and sod.

What will be your total area of Land for pasture or grazing and Other Land in 2009, using the appropriate UOM?

1. Land for pasture or grazing
2. Other Land
3. Total Land Balance (sum of E1 to E2)

(go to Section F)

Section F - Total Land Area

What will be the Total Land Area in 2009?

1. Total Land Area
2. Sum of sections B3c + C2y + D6 + E3
3. Difference between F1 and F2 (F1-F2)
   If the difference is substantial, please explain in comments.

(go to Section G)

Section G - Federal/Provincial Agreement to Share Information

1. Federal/provincial agreement to share information

Ontario and British Columbia residents:

• To avoid duplication of enquiry, this survey is conducted under a co-operative agreement to share information with your provincial department of agriculture in accordance with Section 12 of the Statistics Act. Any information shared with a provincial ministry of agriculture is released in aggregate form only. The provincial ministry of agriculture must guarantee the confidentiality of all shared data. Statistics Canada does not provide the respondent's name or address to any provincial ministry of agriculture.

Do you agree to share this information?

• Yes
• No (go to question 2)

Quebec residents:

• To avoid duplication of enquiry, this survey is conducted under a co-operative agreement to share information in accordance with Section 11 of the Statistics Act, with Statistics Canada and l'Institut de la statistique du Québec.

2. Request for survey results

• Yes
• No (go to question 3)

3. Total interview time

(end of survey)

Comments:

Confidential when completed. This survey is conducted under the authority of the Statistics Act, Revised Statutes of Canada, 1985, c. S-19. Completion of this questionnaire is a legal requirement under the Statistics Act.

The purpose of this survey is to obtain information on the crops you have seeded or intend to seed this year as well as hay and pasture land.

Statistics Canada is prohibited by law from publishing any statistics which would divulge information obtained from this survey that relates to any identifiable business, institution or individual without the previous written consent of that business, institution or individual. The data reported on this questionnaire will be treated in confidence, used for statistical purposes and published in aggregate form only. The confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act are not affected by either the Access to Information Act or any other Legislation.

Statistics Canada advises you that there could be a risk of disclosure of your information if you choose to return it by fax, e-mail or other electronic means. Upon receipt of your information, Statistics Canada will provide the level of protection required by the Statistics Act.

Review the information on the label. If any information is incorrect or missing, please make the necessary corrections in the boxes below.

• Farm name (if applicable)
• Family name
• First name and initial
• Number and street name
• Postal code
• City
• Telephone
• E-mail address (if applicable)
• Partner's name (if applicable)
• Telephone
• Partner's name (is applicable)
• Telephone
• Corporation name (if applicable)

Section A - Gains in Storage

The following questions refer to grains in storage on your farm on March 31, 2009.

Include

• grains harvested in or prior to 2008;
• grains owned by someone else but stored on your farm;
• grains purchased for animal feed or seed.

Exclude

• brand name feeds that were purchased (feed rations);
• grains that you own but are stored off your farm (e.g. elevator, another farm, storage ticket, condominium storage).

Important: Any crops harvested as forage or green silage should not be included as "grains in storage".

1. Will you have any grains in storage on your farm on March 31, 2009?

• Yes
• No (go to Section B)

2. Please indicate the expected quantity in storage on your farm on March 31, 2009, using the appropriate UOM for the following crops.

• Barley
• Canary Seed
• Canola
• Chick Peas
• Corn for Grain (include seed corn but exclude sweet corn)
• Dry Beans, Coloured, total
• Dry Beans, White Pea (Navy)
• Dry Field Peas
• Flaxseed
• Lentils
• Linola (solin)
• Mixed Grains (two or more grains sown together)
• Mustard Seed
• Oats
• Rye (Spring and Fall)
• Soybeans
• Sunflower Seeds (include Sunola & other dwarf varieties)
• Wheat, Durum
• Wheat, Winter
• Wheat Spring, Canadian Western Extra Strong (utility)
• Wheat Spring, Hard Red
• Wheat Spring, Prairie (include semi-dwarf varieties but exclude Soft White Spring Wheat)
• Wheat Spring, Soft White (exclude White Prairie Spring Wheat)
• Wheat Spring, Other (unlicensed varieties, including Grandin Wheat)

(go to Section B)

The following questions deal with all land operated.

Include

• Land rented from other operations and Crown or public land used for agricultural purposes.

Exclude

• Land rented to other operations.

Section B - Fall Rye and Winter Wheat

1. Did you seed any Fall Rye or Winter Wheat in the fall of 2008?

• Yes
• No (go to Section C)

2. Which crops did you seed?

• Fall rye
• Winter wheat

(go to next question)

3. Please indicate the area seeded and the area remaining to be harvested as grain, using the appropriate UOM.

1. Fall Rye
2. Winter Wheat
3. Total remaining to harvest as grain area (sum of 3a to 3b)

(go to Section C)

Section C - Seeding Intentions

1. Do you plan to seed any crops in 2009?

• Yes
• No (go to Section D)

2. Please indicate the area you plan to seed using the appropriate UOM for the following crops.

1. Barley
2. Borage Seed
3. Buckwheat
4. Canary Seed, Hairless (Canario)
5. Canary Seed, Regular
6. Canola
7. Caraway Seed
8. Chick Peas, Desi
9. Chick Peas, Kabuli
10. Chick Peas, Other and unknown
11. Coriander Seed
12. Corn for Grain (include seed corn but exclude sweet corn)
13. Dry Beans, Black (Black Turtle, Preto)
14. Dry Beans, Cranberry (Romano)
15. Dry Beans, Dark Red Kidney
16. Dry Beans, Faba (Fava, Broad)
17. Dry Beans, Great Northern
18. Dry Beans, Light Red Kidney
19. Dry Beans, Pinto
20. Dry Beans, Small Red (Red Mexican)
21. Dry Beans, White Pea (Navy)
22. Dry Beans, Other and unknown
23. Dry Field Peas - Green
24. Dry Field Peas - Yellow
25. Dry Field Peas - Other and unknown
26. Flaxseed
27. Fodder Corn
28. Lentils - Large green
29. Lentils - Red
30. Lentils - Small green
31. Lentils - Other and unknown
32. Linola (solin)
33. Mixed Grains (two or more grains sown together)
34. Mustard Seed - Brown
35. Mustard Seed - Oriental
36. Mustard Seed - Yellow
37. Mustard Seed - Other and unknown
38. Oats
39. Potatoes
40. Safflower
41. Soybeans
42. Spring Rye
43. Sugar Beets
44. Sunflower Seeds (include Sunola & other dwarf varieties)
45. Triticale
46. Wheat, Durum
47. Wheat Spring, Canadian Western Extra Strong (utility)
48. Wheat Spring, Hard Red
49. Wheat Spring, Red Prairie (semi-dwarf varieties)
50. Wheat Spring, White Prairie (include semi-dwarf varieties but exclude Soft White Spring Wheat)
51. Wheat Spring, Soft White (exclude White Prairie Spring Wheat)
52. Wheat Spring, Other (unlicensed varieties, including Grandin Wheat)
53. Other Field Crops (list in comments)
54. Total seeded area (sum of 2a to 2ba)

(go to Section D)

Section D - Tame Hay and Forage Seed

Alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures

Include - Alfalfa and alfalfa mixed with varieties of clover, trefoil, bromegrass, timothy, orchardgrass, canarygrass, ryegrass, fescue, soudan-sorghum and wheatgrass.

Exclude - All forage crop area harvested or to be harvested for commercial seed purposes, crops harvested or that will be harvested green to be used to feed animals and under-seeded areas.

Other tame hay

Include - Varieties of clover, trefoil, bromegrass, timothy, orchardgrass, canarygrass, ryegrass, fescue, soudan-sorghum and wheatgrass.

Exclude - Alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures, all forage crop area harvested or to be harvested for commercial seed purposes and crops harvested or that will be harvested green to be used to feed animals.

Forage seed

Include - All forage crop area harvested or to be harvested for seed purposes such as alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures, varieties of clover, trefoil, bromegrass, timothy, orchardgrass, canarygrass, ryegrass, fescue, soudan-sorghum and wheatgrass.

Exclude - Forage crops harvested or to be harvested for hay or to be used for pasture.

1. Will you have any Tame Hay or Forage Seed in 2009?

• Yes
• No (go to Section E)

2. Which crops will you have?

• Alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures (go to question 3)
• other tame hay (go to question 4)
• forage seed (go to question 5)

Alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures

3. What will be your total area of alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures? (Exclude under-seeded areas.)

• Total area and unit of measure

(Go to the next crop. If this is the last crop, go to question 6)

Other tame hay

4. What will be your total area of all Other Tame Hay? (Exclude under-seeded areas.)

• Total area and unit of measure

(Go to the next crop. If this is the last crop, go to question 6)

Forage seed

5. What will be your total area of Forage Seed? (Exclude under-seeded areas.)

• Total area and unit of measure

(Go to the next question)

6. Total Tame Hay and Forage Seed areas (sum of C3 to C5)

• UOM (ac,ha,arp)

(go to Section E)

Section E - Land Balance

Summerfallow: Land on which no crop will be grown during the year, but which may be cultivated or worked for weed control and/or moisture conservation, or it may simply be left to lay fallow in order to renew the soil.

Include

• Chemfallow: summerfallow where herbicides are used without working the soil;
• Winterkilled land: winterkilled area from crops sown in the previous fall, which will not be reseeded or pastured to another crop;
• Fall crop area ploughed under but not reseeded;
• Idle land: improved land which was cropped, pastured or used for agricultural purposes last year, but is not being cropped this year.

Land for pasture or grazing: All land which is being used for pasture, grazing, native pasture, native hay, rangeland and grazable bush used for the grazing or feeding of livestock.

Exclude

• Areas to be harvested as dry hay, silage or forage seed;
• Community pastures, co-operative grazing associations or grazing reserves.

If a field is used the same year for harvesting Tame Hay and as a pasture, count it only once as a Tame Hay field.

Other Land:

• Area of farmstead: farm buildings, farmyard, home garden and roads;
• New broken land: land which has been cleared and prepared for cultivation but will not be cropped;
• Wasteland, woodland, cut-over land, slough, swamp, marshland and irrigation ditches;
• Fruits and vegetables, mushrooms, maple trees, Christmas trees and sod.

What is your total area of Summerfallow, Land for pasture or grazing and Other Land in 2009, using the appropriate UOM?

1. Summerfallow
2. Land for pasture or grazing
3. Other Land
4. Total Land Balance (sum of E1 to E3)

(go to Section F)

Section F - Total Land Area

What will be the Total Land Area in 2009, using the appropriate UOM?

1. Total Land Area
2. Sum of sections B3c + C2bb + D6 + E4
3. Difference between F1 and F2 (F1-F2) If the difference is substantial, please explain in comments.

(go to Section G)

Section G - Federal/Provincial Agreement to Share Information

1. Federal/provincial agreement to share information

Manitoba, Saskatchewan and British Columbia residents:

To avoid duplication of enquiry, this survey is conducted under a co-operative agreement to share information with your provincial department of agriculture in accordance with Section 12 of the Statistics Act. Any information shared with a provincial ministry of agriculture is released in aggregate form only. The provincial ministry of agriculture must guarantee the confidentiality of all shared data. Statistics Canada does not provide the respondent's name or address to any provincial ministry of agriculture.

Do you agree to share this information?

• Yes
• No (go to question 2)

2. Request for survey results

• Yes
• No (go to question 3)

3. Total interview time

• Time (end of survey)

Comments:

Confidentiality: Statistics Canada is prohibited by law from publishing any statistics which would divulge information obtained from this survey that relates to any identifiable business without the previous written consent of that business. The data reported on this questionnaire will be treated in confidence and used for statistical purpose only. The confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act are not affected by either the Access to Information Act or any other legislation.

Authority: Collected under the authority of the Statistics Act, Revised Statutes of Canada, 1985, Chapter S19. Completion of this questionnaire is a legal requirement under the Statistics Act.

Purpose: The purpose of the survey is to identify the amount of grain used and the stocks of grain held by processors. These data are valuable for accurate calculations of grain production, total grain stocks and farm cash receipts which are used by farmers, the grain trade and governments.

July 31, 2009

Instructions:

1. Please report stocks held in your company's elevators in metric tonnes. Include imports.
2. Please report the quantities of grain used in your plant. Report the quantities purchased from farmers and the quantities purchased from companies separately.
3. Please keep a copy of this report for your file and return a copy to Statistics Canada within one week.
4. You may return this questionnaire by mail in the enclosed envelope or by facsimile. Statistics Canada advises you that there could be a risk of disclosure of your information if you choose to return it by fax, e-mail or other electronic means. Upon receipt of your information, Statistics Canada will provide the level of protection required by the Statistics Act. Address the facsimile report to the Grain Marketing Unit, Agriculture Division. The Agriculture Division facsimile number is (613) 951-3868.
5. If you have any questions, please telephone (613) 951-8714. Thank you.

• Stocks at July 31
  • Total (Metric tonnes)
• Industrial use - Amount used in manufacturing from August 1, 2008 to July 31, 2009
  • Purchased from farmers (Metric tonnes)
  • Purchased from companies (Metric tonnes)

1. Wheat (excluding durum)
2. Durum wheat
3. Canola
4. Corn
5. Other grains (specify)

• Contact person
• E-mail address
• Telephone no.

Standard Drainage Area Classification

Long description for image

• The development of drainage areas
• Development work in the 2000s
• The National Scale Frameworks Hydrology -Drainage Areas, Canada, Version 5.0
• Standard Drainage Area Classification (SDAC) 2003
• Classification variant: Drainage Regions - SDAC 2003
• Future development

The development of drainage areas^{Footnote 1}

The Water Survey of Canada (WSC) developed, in 1922, a Water Resources Index Inventory as a convenient and logical system for recording and filing water resources data such as the location of waterpower sites, waterpower developments, storage reservoirs, stream measurement stations, and meteorological stations. The Water Survey of Canada delineations involved the division, sub-division and sub-sub-division of Canada into suitably sized areas based on drainage characteristics, for administrative purposes. Although the boundaries are based on drainage, the intent was to include all of Canada's land mass and waters within this drainage area hierarchy to facilitate the identification of hydrometeorological sites. Therefore, the WSC drainage areas do not necessarily define individual river basins, but can represent intervening areas along the coast or include islands.

By the 1980s, there were different digital versions of Canadian drainage areas:

1. Environment Canada produced a digital file of the paper map (1:2M scale) depicting the WSC drainage area boundaries;
2. Statistics Canada digitized the WSC boundaries separately and integrated them with a base derived from the Census files. This digital version of the WSC maps was used for the tabulation of environmental statistics by drainage area starting in the 1980s;
3. In 1985, the National Atlas of Canada produced a separate digital version tied to its 1:7.5M base and integrated this to produce paper maps for the 5th Edition of the National Atlas of Canada. This digital file depicts the drainage basins for many of the larger rivers of Canada. The National Atlas basin hierarchy has five levels (ocean drainage area, major river basin, component basin, sub-component basin, and sub-sub-component basin) and the major criterion used to define a National Atlas basin was a mean annual discharge of at least 280 m3/s at the mouth or confluence of the river;
4. Several agencies (e.g., the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration), provinces, and other authorities have compiled local digital drainage area boundaries.

In addition, large hydroelectric projects (e.g., James Bay) have had a significant impact on the hydrologic base and such changes were not maintained in a uniform manner. As a result, there was not a consistent, integrated, and up-to-date set of drainage area boundaries at the national level and it became time-consuming to work with other projects based on different boundaries.

The development of drainage areas is described in the sections below. The relationship between those drainage areas is also presented in the diagram showing the Hierarchy of drainage areas.

---

Development work in the 2000s

In 2000, Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), Environment Canada (EC) and Statistics Canada formed a partnership with an objective of producing one single national drainage area coverage for the country at a scale of 1:1,000,000. Each agency involved had specific requirements for the result, and certain design goals to be met. Since there were one set of drainage areas defined by Environment Canada and another by NRCan, it was agreed that a major goal for the project would be to support both definitions.The project resulted in a single national scale framework supporting the two distinct classification schemes.

---

The National Scale Frameworks Hydrology - Drainage Areas, Canada, Version 5.0

The single national scale framework for drainage areas, largely based on the WSC drainage area boundaries at the sub-sub-drainage area level, contains three drainage area datasets. There are the WSC, the National Atlas and the Fundamental Drainage Area (FDA) datasets.

Even though there is a high degree of similarity between the WSC classification and the National Atlas classification - approximately 95% of the National Atlas boundaries are also WSC boundaries - meaning that, with few exceptions, the National Atlas basins can be derived from the WSC sub-sub-drainage areas, it is necessary to introduce a smaller unit in order to reconcile both classifications. That is the purpose of the FDA dataset, to allow data to be aggregated to either of the two classifications. In general, these fundamental units are the same as the WSC sub-sub-drainage areas, but some sub-sub-drainage areas have been split to accommodate the following situations:

1. Water Survey and Atlas units do not match;
2. Identifying areas of internal drainage; and
3. Inconsistencies in the flow hierarchy.

As specified above, the WSC hierarchy was designed for administrative purposes. Each level of hierarchy has its own code and name with a systematic coverage for Canada.

In contrast, the National Atlas of Canada's hierarchy defines basins whose outflow exceeds a certain criterion. At its highest level, it does divide the complete country into five ocean drainage areas but at lower levels the basins do not cover the entire country. This makes it unsuitable for use as a geographic standard for statistical reporting.

---

Standard Drainage Area Classification (SDAC) 2003

Version 5.0 of the WSC dataset from the National Scale Frameworks Hydrology - Drainage Areas, Canada is used by Statistics Canada as the basis for the Standard Drainage Area Classification (SDAC) 2003. In the drainage area classification of this Frameworks dataset, Canada has eleven major drainage areas which are divided into 164 sub-drainage areas; the 164 sub-drainage areas are then further divided into 978 sub-sub-drainage areas. All drainage areas, sub-drainage areas and sub-sub-drainage areas are named and have an identifying code. This classification is used by Statistics Canada as the basis for the Standard Drainage Area Classification (SDAC) 2003. The Standard Drainage Area Classification (SDAC) 2003 also contains the major drainage areas, sub-drainage areas and sub-sub-drainage areas but with the following modifications:

• Some drainage areas in the Frameworks dataset straddle the Canada-United States border; the Standard Drainage Area Classification (SDAC) 2003 includes only the parts within Canada since this is used for reporting Canadian data. The SDAC 2003 excludes 4 of the sub-sub-drainage areas that are entirely outside the boundary of Canada. Therefore, the Standard Drainage Area Classification (SDAC) 2003 contains only the 974 sub-sub-drainage areas that are within Canada.
• The Great Lakes were not assigned a drainage area in the Frameworks dataset; Canadian islands in the Great Lakes are assigned a drainage area in the Standard Drainage Area Classification (SDAC) 2003 for the purposes of data reporting.

The Frameworks dataset as well as the SDAC classification cover all of Canada including islands and freshwater lakes; however, the classification does not cover marine water.

The concept of drainage area is used in Statistics Canada's environmental and agricultural statistics programs. Generally, the detailed level of the sub-drainage area is used for disseminating statistics. Exceptions include "A Geographical Profile of Manure Production in Canada, 2001", a research paper in which data are presented at the sub-sub-drainage area level for only those areas with livestock farming activities.

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Classification variant: Drainage Regions - SDAC 2003

The variant Drainage Regions has three levels: 5 ocean drainage areas, 25 drainage regions and 974 sub-sub-drainage areas. The drainage regions in this classification variant are based on the major river basins depicted in "Currents of Change: Final Report of the Inquiry on Federal Water Policy", Environment Canada, a report prepared in 1985 by Peter H. Pearse, Françoise Bertrand, and James W. MacLaren. The drainage regions were developed to provide a good representation of the hydrology in Canada and can be built-up from the sub-sub-drainage areas of the Standard Drainage Area Classification (SDAC) 2003. The ocean drainage areas that form a classification level in the variant are based on the ocean drainage areas in National Scale Frameworks Hydrology - Drainage Areas, Canada, Version 5. The twenty-five drainage regions are named and numbered as are the five ocean drainage areas, and the sub-sub-drainage areas.

The environmental statistics program in Statistics Canada uses drainage regions in its annual report "Human Activity and the Environment: Annual Statistics" to tabulate population and water resource characteristics. The drainage regions are also used for area sampling in environmental surveys. These regions are considered to provide a good representation of the hydrology in Canada^{Footnote 2}.

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Future development

NRCan has recently completed Version 6.0 of the National Scale Frameworks Hydrology - Drainage Areas, Canada. Statistics Canada has not participated significantly in the revision process, and has decided that there were not enough changes to justify adopting it. Statistics Canada will continue to use version 5.0 when disseminating data by drainage areas, until further notice.

In addition, NRCan is working on the National Hydro Network (NHN). The NHN is a hydrographic layer in GeoBase^{Footnote 3}, constructed using the best databases available in Canada, which improves the precision of drainage area boundaries and other hydrological components. The NHN works in cooperation with several provincial and territorial partners in the implementation of this project in their respective geographic areas. The NHN is being disseminated in progressive phases called completeness levels. The first national NHN coverage has been completed in 2008. At this point in time, Statistics Canada has begun collaborating with the NHN project.

• Introduction
• Conformity to relevant nationally recognized standards

Introduction

The variant Drainage Regions was developed to enable the production of integrated statistics by hydrographic areas. It provides a set of geographical units that are convenient for data collection and compilation, and useful for spatial analysis of environmental, economic and social statistics. Drainage regions are used for dissemination of data and for sampling in environmental surveys.

The variant Drainage Regions has three levels: 5 ocean drainage areas, 25 drainage regions and 974 sub-sub-drainage areas. The ocean drainage areas are drainage areas named for the five large water bodies into which Canadian waters drain: the Pacific, Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, Hudson Bay, and the Gulf of Mexico. The ocean drainage areas have been assigned a one digit numeric identifier code. All 25 drainage regions are named and have an identifying unique code. The 25 drainage regions provide a good level of disaggregating for data reporting. They are also used for area sampling in environmental surveys. These regions are considered to provide a good representation of the hydrology in Canada^{Footnote 1}.

This variant is defined in terms of the sub-sub-drainage areas in the Standard Drainage Area Classification (SDAC) 2003. A drainage area is composed of a drainage basin as well as adjacent areas, such as coasts and islands that may not drain into the outlet^{Footnote 2}. A drainage basin is an area in which all contributing surface waters share the same drainage outlet. This classification covers drainage areas and therefore applies to all of Canada including coasts and islands that may not drain into an outlet. The variant Drainage Regions covers all the land and interior freshwater lakes of the country. Some drainage areas straddle the Canada-United States border. This classification includes only the parts within Canada since it is used for reporting Canadian data.

The relationship between the classification levels in this variant and the Standard Drainage Area Classification (SDAC) 2003 is presented in the diagram showing the Standard Drainage Area Classification.

Conformity to relevant nationally recognized standards

In 2000, Natural Resources Canada, Environment Canada and Statistics Canada formed a partnership to produce a single national drainage area dataset at a scale of 1:1,000,000. As a result of the partnership The National Scale Frameworks Hydrology - Drainage Areas, Canada, Version 5 was completed in 2003. In the drainage area classification of this Frameworks dataset, Canada has eleven major drainage areas which are divided into 164 sub-drainage areas; the 164 sub-drainage areas are then further divided into 978 sub-sub-drainage areas. All drainage areas, sub-drainage areas and sub-sub-drainage areas are named and have an identifying code. This classification is used by Statistics Canada as the basis for the Standard Drainage Area Classification (SDAC) 2003. The Standard Drainage Area Classification (SDAC) 2003 also contains the major drainage areas, sub-drainage areas and sub-sub-drainage areas but with the following modifications:

• Some drainage areas in the Frameworks dataset straddle the Canada-United States border; the Standard Drainage Area Classification (SDAC) 2003 includes only the parts within Canada since this is used for reporting Canadian data. The SDAC 2003 excludes 4 of the sub-sub-drainage areas that are entirely outside the boundary of Canada. Therefore, the Standard Drainage Area Classification (SDAC) 2003 contains only the 974 sub-sub-drainage areas that are within Canada.
• The Great Lakes were not assigned a drainage area in the Frameworks dataset; Canadian islands in the Great Lakes are assigned a drainage area in the Standard Drainage Area Classification (SDAC) 2003 for the purposes of data reporting.

The variant Drainage Regions is defined in terms of the sub-sub-drainage areas in the Standard Drainage Area Classification (SDAC) 2003 and includes these modifications. The ocean drainage areas that form a level in the variant are based on the ocean drainage areas in National Scale Frameworks Hydrology - Drainage Areas, Canada, Version 5. The Frameworks dataset as well as the SDAC classification cover all of Canada including islands and freshwater lakes; however, the classification does not cover marine water. Further information on the development of drainage areas is presented in the Additional information on SDAC.

A digital representation of the national scale frameworks hydrology - drainage areas is available for free on Natural Resources Canada's Geogratis website.

• Introduction
• Description of major drainage areas
• Conformity to relevant nationally recognized standards

Introduction

The Standard Drainage Area Classification (SDAC) 2003 was developed to enable the production of integrated statistics by hydrographic areas. It provides a range of geographical units that are convenient for data collection and compilation, and useful for spatial analysis of environmental, economic and social statistics. A drainage area is composed of a drainage basin as well as adjacent areas, such as coasts and islands that may not drain into the outlet^{Footnote 1}. A drainage basin is an area in which all contributing surface waters share the same drainage outlet. This classification covers drainage areas and therefore applies to all of Canada including coasts and islands that may not drain into an outlet.

The Standard Drainage Area Classification (SDAC) 2003 covers all the land and interior freshwater lakes of the country. Some drainage areas straddle the Canada-United States border. This classification includes only the parts within Canada since it is used for reporting Canadian data.

There are three levels in the 2003 version of the classification - 11 major drainage areas, 164 sub-drainage areas and 974 sub-sub-drainage areas. All drainage areas, sub-drainage areas and sub-sub-drainage areas are named and have an identifying unique code. The code used is a four-character alphanumeric code. Two leading numeric digits represent the major drainage areas, the third alphabetic character represents the sub-drainage areas and a fourth alphabetic character represents the sub-sub-drainage areas.

Structure of the Standard Drainage Area Classification (SDAC) 2003

Level	Characters in Code (cumulative)
major drainage area	2
sub-drainage area	3
sub-sub-drainage area	4

Among the levels in this classification, the detailed sub-drainage area level is generally used for disseminating statistics.

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Description of major drainage areas

Canada is divided into eleven major drainage areas:

The table displays the name (first column) and are information (second (square kilometres) and third (%) columns).

Major drainage areas

Major drainage area name	Area
	square kilometres	%
Maritime Provinces	163,990	1.6
St. Lawrence	1,067,879	10.7
Northern Quebec and Labrador	1,158,292	11.6
Southwestern Hudson Bay	735,320	7.4
Nelson River	987,015	9.9
Western and Northern Hudson Bay	1,253,213	12.6
Great Slave Lake	974,853	9.8
Pacific	666,349	6.7
Yukon River	337,036	3.4
Arctic	2,605,138	26.1
Mississippi River	27,097	0.3
Canada	9,976,182	100.0
Note: The classification covers all of Canada including islands and freshwater lakes; however, the classification does not cover marine water. The numbers in the table show the area covered in the classification.

The Maritime Provinces drainage area covers New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and part of the Gaspé Peninsula in eastern Quebec. This area drains into the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Atlantic Ocean. Halifax, Fredericton and Charlottetown are located in this drainage area.

The St. Lawrence drainage area includes all of southern Quebec, southern Ontario and Newfoundland. Cities in this drainage area include Montréal, Toronto, Ottawa, Thunder Bay, St. John's and Corner Brook.

The Northern Quebec and Labrador drainage area covers all the area just north of the St. Lawrence drainage area. Most of the water in this drainage area drains into Hudson, James and Ungava bays. The Labrador portion of the drainage area drains directly into the Atlantic Ocean. Communities in this drainage area include Chibougamau and Kuujjuaq in Quebec and Happy Valley-Goose Bay in Labrador.

The Southwestern Hudson Bay drainage area covers a large portion of northern Ontario, a small part of western Quebec and northeastern Manitoba. Communities in this drainage area include Val-d'Or in Quebec and Kapuskasing and Timmins in Ontario.

The Nelson River drainage area covers most of the southern Prairie provinces, from the Rockies to northwestern Ontario. Major cities within this drainage area are Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon, Calgary and Edmonton. Water from the Nelson River drainage area ultimately drains into Hudson Bay.

The Western and Northern Hudson Bay drainage area includes parts of eastern Alberta, all of the middle portions of Saskatchewan, northwestern Manitoba, the northeastern portion of the Northwest Territories, southeastern Nunavut, the Hudson Bay islands and part of Baffin Island. The following communities are found in this drainage area: Bonnyville, Alberta; La Ronge, Saskatchewan; and Rankin Inlet, Nunavut.

The Great Slave Lake drainage area is composed of northern Alberta, northern Saskatchewan, southern Northwest Territories and a small portion of British Columbia. Cities within this drainage area include Grande Prairie and High Level in Alberta, Yellowknife and Hay River in the Northwest Territories, and Fort St. John in British Columbia.

The Pacific drainage area includes all the area that is west of the continental divide, representing about 70% of the province of British Columbia. The southwestern part of the Yukon is also part of this drainage area. Some of the communities in the eastern portion of the drainage area are Kimberley, Golden and Invermere, all in British Columbia. Cities in the western portion include Vancouver, Victoria, Abbotsford and Whistler. Terrace and Prince Rupert in British Columbia are among the northern communities in this drainage area.

The Yukon River drainage area contains most of the western portion of the Yukon territory. The most southerly portion of this drainage area is in British Columbia. Communities and cities in this drainage area are Whitehorse, Dawson and Old Crow in the Yukon. The Yukon River flows through central Alaska, and ultimately into the Bering Sea.

The Arctic drainage area covers most of the arctic islands and large portions of the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Yukon and, to a lesser extent, British Columbia and Alberta. Communities within this drainage area include Inuvik in the Northwest Territories, Fort Nelson in British Columbia, and Pangnirtung, Iqaluit and Resolute in Nunavut.

Finally, the Mississippi River drainage area covers a small area in the southernmost parts of Alberta and Saskatchewan.

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Conformity to relevant nationally recognized standards

In 2000, Natural Resources Canada, Environment Canada and Statistics Canada formed a partnership to produce a single national drainage area dataset at a scale of 1:1,000,000. As a result of the partnership The National Scale Frameworks Hydrology - Drainage Areas, Canada, Version 5 was completed in 2003. In the drainage area classification of this Frameworks dataset, Canada has eleven major drainage areas which are divided into 164 sub-drainage areas; the 164 sub-drainage areas are then further divided into 978 sub-sub-drainage areas. All drainage areas, sub-drainage areas and sub-sub-drainage areas are named and have an identifying code. This classification is used by Statistics Canada as the basis for the Standard Drainage Area Classification (SDAC) 2003. The Standard Drainage Area Classification (SDAC) 2003 also contains the major drainage areas, sub-drainage areas and sub-sub-drainage areas but with the following modifications:

• Some drainage areas in the Frameworks dataset straddle the Canada-United States border; the Standard Drainage Area Classification (SDAC) 2003 includes only the parts within Canada since this is used for reporting Canadian data. The SDAC 2003 excludes 4 of the sub-sub-drainage areas that are entirely outside the boundary of Canada. Therefore, the Standard Drainage Area Classification (SDAC) 2003 contains only the 974 sub-sub-drainage areas that are within Canada.
• The Great Lakes were not assigned a drainage area in the Frameworks dataset; Canadian islands in the Great Lakes are assigned a drainage area in the Standard Drainage Area Classification (SDAC) 2003 for the purposes of data reporting.

The Frameworks dataset as well as the SDAC classification cover all of Canada including islands and freshwater lakes; however, the classification does not cover marine water. Further information on the development of drainage areas is presented in the Additional information on SDAC.

A digital representation of the national scale frameworks hydrology - drainage areas is available for free on Natural Resources Canada's Geogratis website.