INTRODUCTION
IMPLAN’s Canada Environmental Data is released annually in conjunction with the Canada Provincial Product, starting with Data Year 2021. The environmental data show Environmental Output (estimates of physical emissions, pollutants, or input use) by Industry and Region. Driving these estimates are ratios of physical emissions or inputs per dollar of Industry Output. Within the application, IMPLAN applies these ratios to Output by Industry Region Data and Impact Results to generate estimates of physical emissions, pollutants, or input use.
This article describes the data sources and methods used in the construction of the ratios of physical emissions or inputs per dollar of Industry Output used in IMPLAN’s Canada Environmental data.
DATA OVERVIEW
Broadly, the IMPLAN Canada Environmental data is grouped into the following categories:
- Air Releases
- Disposals
- Greenhouse Gases
- Mineral Extraction
- Point Source Releases to Ground
- Point Source Releases to Water
- Transfers
- Water Withdrawals
Within each Environmental Category, detailed data is also available for each pollutant, emission, or input as defined by the Environment Name.
Data is available for more than 200 substances, more than 35 minerals, and 18 greenhouse gases, with the unit of measurement varying depending on the data element of interest. The coverage of physical emissions, pollutants, or inputs can vary from year to year depending on the raw data. For a complete list of pollutants, emissions, and inputs (and their units of measurement) included in each Canada Environmental release, please see the corresponding release notes.
DATA SOURCES AND METHODS
IMPLAN’s Canada Environmental Data is released annually in conjunction with the Canada Provincial Product, with each Environmental Release Year labeled in accordance with the year from which the raw environmental data originate1.
Physical emission, pollutant, or input use data come from several different data sources, including Statistics Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada, and OpenIO-Canada, as described in more detail below. This data is reported in the format of physical quantities (tonnes, kg, etc.) and is reported at the national level.
IMPLAN then allocates the emissions, pollutants, or inputs to IMPLAN Industries. In some cases, this data is reported by NAICS code or by Statistics Canada’s IOIC code and is simply bridged to IMPLAN Industries. In other cases, IMPLAN maps the physical units to IMPLAN Industries using the IMPLAN Core Environmental Data (U.S.-based) as a guide.
Ratios of physical emissions, pollutants, or inputs per dollar of Industry Output are derived using Industry Output data from the Data Year in accordance with the year from which the raw environmental data originates. As the physical emissions, pollutant, and input use data is from the national level, the ratios for the Canada Environmental Data are constructed using national-level environmental and Industry Output data.
RELEASES TO AIR, GROUND, WATER, DISPOSAL, AND TRANSFER OF POLLUTANTS
Data on pollutant releases (to air, water, and land), as well as disposals and transfers for recycling comes from the National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI) released by Environment and Climate Change Canada. This data is available by facility and NAICS code.
Per Environment and Climate Change Canada,
- Releases are direct discharges of pollutants into the environment (air, water, land).
- Disposals manage substances and limit their release. Disposals include landfill, land application and underground injection and can be done at the facility (on-site) or elsewhere (off-site).
- Transfers send substances elsewhere for recycling, energy recovery, or for treatment before final disposal.
Data is available for more than 200 substances and units of measurement vary depending on the substance under consideration. These include:
- g_teq_et: grams of Toxic Equivalent (TEQ)
- This unit applies only to the toxic chemicals commonly known as dioxins and furans. It is a unit that measures the toxicity of dioxins and dioxin-like compounds.
- grams: grams
- This unit applies only to the chemical compound Hexachlorobenzene.
- kg: kilograms
- This applies to many elements and their compounds including Lead, Arsenic, Acenaphthylene, and many others.
- tonnes: metric ton- a unit of mass equal to 1,000 kg
- This applies to many elements and their compounds including Carbon monoxide, Sulphur Dioxide, various types of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), among many others.
GREENHOUSE GASES
Data on greenhouse gas emissions comes from Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC)’s National Inventory Report (NIR), ECCC’s Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP), and Statistics Canada’s Physical Flow Accounts. The NIR provides data on GHG emissions by gas and by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) sector. The GHGRP provides data by emission source and by facility (with its corresponding NAICS code). The Physical Flow Account for greenhouse gas emissions table provides data by gas type and IOIC code. IMPLAN uses the GHGRP data and Physical Flow account data to distribute NIR total GHG emissions by Industry.
Data is available for 18 different greenhouse gas emissions and is measured in tonnes of Carbon Dioxide equivalent (t CO2 eq).
MINERAL EXTRACTION AND PRODUCTION
Data on mineral extraction and production comes from a variety of sources including OpenIO-Canada, Statistics Canada’s Annual and Monthly Mineral Production Surveys, and USGS’s Mineral Commodity Summaries. This data is not available by NAICS code. IMPLAN uses the core U.S. Environmental data as a guide for sectoral placement.
Data is available for more than 35 different minerals and the unit of measurement varies depending on the mineral under consideration. That said, only one mineral (diamonds) is not measured in tonnes.
WATER USE
Data on water use comes from Statistics Canada’s Physical Flow Accounts. This data reports water use by Statistics Canada’s IOIC (Input-Output Industry Classification) code. Water use data is available every 2 years. Thus, units per $ of Output are derived using the most recent Water Data Year and the corresponding Output values (e.g. Environmental Release Year 2020 uses the 2019 Water Data Year and 2019 Output values, Environmental Release Year 2020 uses the 2021 Water Data Year and 2021 Output values). Water use data is measured in thousands of cubic metres.
RELATED ARTICLES
Using Canada Environmental Data
2020/2021 Canada Environmental Release Notes
1The one exception to this is Water Use data (in which raw data is released every other year and ratios are developed using the most recent water use data).
Written February 27, 2025