Historical water quality data measured on a continuous basis at over 23 locations across Canada is included in this dataset. Most locations include hourly temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, specific conductance and turbidity. Data are collected by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) and in partnership with other federal departments and provinces and territories to enable the detection of short-term water quality events, and to determine trends in water quality, especially at transboundary sites (or Federal waters) in support of Federal legislation and international agreements, or to report on the status of Government of Canada priority aquatic ecosystems.

Water quality and ecosystem health data collected using a risk-based monitoring approach to support the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement are included in this dataset. By conducting regular, systematic measurements of the physical, chemical and biological conditions of the Great Lakes Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) is able to: measure the natural changes and conditions of water quality; determine changes over time, at various locations, of water contaminants and/or threats; support development of science-based guidelines for water, fish, and sediment; identify emerging issues and threats; track the results of remedial measures and regulatory decisions; report and assess science results through performance indicators and in an Open Science environment to support an ecosystem approach to environmental and resource management in the Great Lakes. Data are collected by Environment and Climate Change Canada to meet federal commitments related to the Great Lakes as transboundary waters crossing, inter- provincial and international borders under the authorities of the Department of the Environment Act, the Canada Water Act, the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 and the Boundary Waters Treaty including the commitments under the Canada-United States Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement.

The Nova Scotia Automated Surface Water Quality Monitoring Network was established in 2002 to assess water quality in surface waters across the province at five stations. In 2019 the station list was modified to reduce overlap with Environment and Climate Change Canada surface water quality monitoring stations. The results are used to help manage water resources, determine baseline water quality in lakes and watercourses throughout the province, evaluate the impact of human activities on surface water, and assess long term trends in water quality. The following weblink connects to a Nova Scotia Environment and Climate Change web map that includes the five monitoring station locations within the province and an alternative method for downloading the same datasets: http://nse.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=7ded7a30bef44f848e8a4fc8672c89bd

Long-term freshwater quality monitoring data for over 10 sites in the Pacific Coastal Basin for the past 15 years or longer for nutrients, metals, major ions, and other physical-chemical variables are included in this dataset. Monitoring is conducted by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) and under the Canada-British Columbia Water Quality Monitoring Agreement to assess water quality status and long-term trends, detect emerging issues, establish water quality guidelines and track the effectiveness of remedial measures and regulatory decisions. Supplemental Information http://www.ec.gc.ca/eaudouce-freshwater/default.asp?lang=En&n=50947E1B-1

The Canadian Environmental Sustainability Indicators (CESI) program provides data and information to track Canada's performance on key environmental sustainability issues. The Water quality in Canadian rivers indicators provide a measure of the ability of river water across Canada to support plants and animals. At each monitoring site, water quality data are compared to water quality guidelines to create a rating for the site. If measured water quality is below the guidelines, it can maintain a healthy ecosystem. Water quality at a monitoring site is considered excellent when substances in a river are very rarely measured above their guidelines. Conversely, water quality is rated poor when measurements are usually above their guidelines, sometimes by a wide margin. These indicators provide information about the state of surface water quality and its change through time, to support water resource management. Information is provided to Canadians in a number of formats including: static and interactive maps, charts and graphs, HTML and CSV data tables and downloadable reports. See the supplementary documentation for the data sources and details on how the data were collected and how the indicator was calculated. Canadian Environmental Sustainability Indicators - Home page: https://www.canada.ca/environmental-indicators

The park monitors water quality of streams and ponds (lakes) on a triennial cycle, reporting on total organic carbon, acidity, phosphorus, nitrogen, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, and Chlorophyll A. These metrics are compiled into a water quality index (WQI) that summarizes overall water quality.

This dataset is a simplified version of water quality measurements taken in Tuktut Nogait National Park. It is a collection of measurements which make up two water quality indexes: Nutrients and Major Ions (NMI) Index and Metals Index. The measurements are taken along the Hornaday River annually in early-July. The chemical composition of water influences the biological productivity and species composition of rivers. Changes in the water quality in the rivers and creeks in the Western Arctic can act as early indicators of ecosystem change. The presence of contaminants, such as persistent organic pollutants (POPs), heavy metals, and radionuclides are a concern because they can have negative effects on Arctic ecosystems and human health. Furthermore, a changing climate in the Arctic can influence the nutrient levels in the streams and rivers as more nutrients will be released from thawing permafrost. As the expected effects of climate change on Arctic ecosystems are still unknown, continuous monitoring is paramount.

Long-term freshwater quality monitoring data for over 14 sites in the Fraser River Basin for the past 15 years or longer for nutrients, metals, major ions, and other physical-chemical variables are included in this dataset. Monitoring is conducted by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) and under the Canada-British Columbia Water Quality Monitoring Agreement to assess water quality status and long-term trends, detect emerging issues, establish water quality guidelines and track the effectiveness of remedial measures and regulatory decisions. Supplemental Information. http://www.ec.gc.ca/eaudouce-freshwater/default.asp?lang=En&n=50947E1B-1

Water quality is a globally accepted and widely used measure for assessing and monitoring the condition of freshwater ecosystems. It has a pivotal affect on the integrity of aquatic ecosystems. The physical and chemical characteristics of water have a strong influence on aquatic biota and freshwater ecosystem processes. As a result, changes in water quality may provide an early warning of environmental stress to aquatic ecosystems. The water quality index (WQI) is a tool that was developed by the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) to summarize complex water chemistry data to a single index in order to simplify and standardize water quality assessment and reporting across the country. Water samples are taken twice a year at the same location from 18 lakes during June and August.

Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) uses satellite remote sensing to monitor lake-wide water quality indicators across Canadian inland waters. Remote sensing provides a cost-effective solution to obtain frequent lake-wide water quality observations in support of lake science and inland water quality management on an on-going basis. The datasets presented in this collection provide long-term satellite-derived monitoring of water quality indicators, contributing to programs such as the Lake Winnipeg Basin Initiative and Great Lakes Nutrient Initiative. These data include imagery and summary statistics in support of ECCC’s EOLakeWatch interactive data portal including daily algal bloom indices and imagery, historical algal bloom indices and imagery, and annual algal bloom reports. Citation: Binding, C.E., Pizzolato, L., & Zeng, C. (2021). EOLakeWatch; delivering a comprehensive suite of remote sensing algal bloom indices for enhanced monitoring of Canadian eutrophic lakes. Ecological Indicators, 121, 106999. doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.106999

These data are water quality parameters sampled by Environment Canada via a Memorandom of Understanding. The individual parameters were used to calculate results for the Canadian Council of Environment Ministers (CCME) water quality index (WQI).

This Data set provides detailed information about the quality of drinking water.

One component of this initiative aims to improve current understanding of nutrient dynamics and cyanobacterial and harmful bloom (cHAB) occurrences on Lake of the Woods. Research will focus on investigating the sources of nutrients and additional mechanisms influencing cHAB development and transport on the lake, determining cHAB composition and toxicity, and improving lake-wide monitoring capabilities through remote sensing observations. Results will document the status, trends, and drivers of blooms, and the risk they may pose, in order to inform on appropriate management and mitigation strategies. Here, as part of this effort, phosphorus concentrations are being provided. It is anticipated that other water quality data will be provided once available and quality assured.

A series of health-related data sets from various quantitative public opinion research studies.

Water Quality is measured annually in both streams and lakes in Gwaii Haanas. Many water quality parameters are collected and they can be grouped into three categories: (1) Physical (e.g. temperature, depth); (2) Chemical (e.g. pH, nutrients) and (3) Biological (chlorophyll a). Water quality is a key component of aquatic habitat and changes to any parameters can be caused by the surrounding landscape, climate, in-stream processes, and natural and human impacts. Depending on the parameter, significant changes can impact biota from algae to fish and birds. This data is also posted to, and available from ECCC's CABIN database.

The Canadian Environmental Sustainability Indicators (CESI) program provides data and information to track Canada's performance on key environmental sustainability issues. The Risk to soil and water quality from agriculture indicator is comprised of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's Soil and Water Quality Agri-Environmental Performance Indices which aggregate multiple indicators related to soil and water quality. They are derived from models and formulae that integrate data for soil, climate and landscape with data about crops, land use and land management. Calculated for agricultural land in Canada, the indicators use a five-class rating system, which ranges from very low to very high risk. A performance index is calculated for each reporting year, based on a weighted share of land in each indicator class. Multi-indicator aggregations result in unit-less agri-environmental performance indices ranging from undesirable performance (index value 0–20) to desired performance (index values of 81 or greater). Information is provided to Canadians in a number of formats including: static and interactive maps, charts and graphs, HTML and CSV data tables and downloadable reports. See the supplementary documentation for data sources and details on how those data were collected and how the indicator was calculated. Supplemental Information Canadian Environmental Sustainability Indicators – Home page: https://www.canada.ca/environmental-indicators

The Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) has designed a Water Quality Index (WQI) to translate complex water quality data into an overall integrated score from 0-100. This score is based on the number of measured variables, which have observations exceeding water quality thresholds (i.e., scope); the number of these exceedances in the dataset (i.e., frequency); and the magnitude by which the observations exceed the guidelines (i.e., amplitude). These water quality parameters are crucial indicators of the physical, chemical or biological conditions in aquatic systems and processes. The purpose of the water quality monitoring program at Kouchibouguac National Park is to use this index to calculate a score and evaluate the status of our freshwater ecosystems. The methods for this measure involve a once-a-month sampling, from May to November, of permanent stations in five tributaries: Kouchibouguacis River, Tweedie Brook, Black River, Rankin Brook, and Portage River. At each station, a number of water quality parameters are measured in situ as well as the collection of samples that are sent for laboratory analysis of chemical content three times a year in the Spring, Summer, and Fall to capture seasonal variation. In addition, ten key variables (i.e., total phosphorus, nitrate, dissolved oxygen, pH, total alkalinity, aluminium, calcium, total suspended solids, turbidity, total organic carbon) were selected to include in the WQI calculation in order to reflect the regional situation and account for possible natural or anthropogenic disturbances (e.g., eutrophication or oxygen deficits, acidification, land-use changes) related to deforestation, agriculture, and urbanization activities.

In 2016-2019 water samples were collected at Lake of the Woods as part of a research program to determine sources and fate of nutrients in nearshore areas. These included samples of lake water, groundwater, streams, and septic wastewater. The samples were analyzed for nutrients (total and dissolved P, nitrogen species, artificial sweeteners and other trace contaminants, major ions and various dissolved metals and other elements. Some of these data have been used/published in journal articles (Robertson et al., 2019, 2021; Van Stempvoort et al., 2019, 2020, 2021; Danielescu et al., 2021).

Long-term freshwater quality monitoring data for over six sites in the Yukon River Basin for the past 15 years or longer for nutrients, metals, major ions, and other physical-chemical variables are included in this dataset. Monitoring is conducted by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) and in partnership with Environment Yukon to assess water quality status and long-term trends, detect emerging issues, establish water quality guidelines and track the effectiveness of remedial measures and regulatory decisions. Supplemental Information. http://www.ec.gc.ca/eaudouce-freshwater/default.asp?lang=En&n=50947E1B-1

Water quality data is based around two of the largest lakes in Prince Albert National Park – Kingsmere and Waskesiu. Data is collected monthly from May through September each year, with additional water chemistry sampling in March. Water chemistry and Secchi disk depths are sampled by boat at three open water locations, and E.coli levels are tested from three high use beach locations. Discharge measurements are taken for Waskesiu Lake inflow (Kingsmere River, Mud Creek) and outflow (Waskesiu River). Kingsmere and Waskesiu Lakes are representative examples of PANP’s natural aquatic ecosystems, and Waskesiu is a popular recreation location. Monitoring water quality in these lakes is a high priority because of their ecological importance to the overall ecological integrity of the park.