« OECD OECD Environmental Performance Reviews Environmental CANADA Performance Topics covered: Latestreviews available Environmental Management • Australia 1998 Reviews • Switzerland 1998 Air and Water Management • Belgium 1998 Nature and Biodiversity Management • Czech Republic 1999 Economy, Society and Environment O • Denmark 1999 E CANADA Sectoral Integration: Chemicals • Russian Federation* 1999 C International Co-operation • Turkey 1999 D • Hungary 2000 E This book is part of the OECD Environmental • Greece 2000 n v Performance Reviews Programme which conducts • Ireland 2000 ir o peer reviews of environmental conditions and • Luxembourg 2000 n progress in each member country. It scrutinises • OECD countries 2001 m efforts to meet both domestic objectives and • Germany 2001 e n international commitments. The analyses • Iceland 2001 t a presented are supported by a broad range of • Norway 2001 l economic and environmental data and lead to • Portugal 2001 P e recommendations for further environmental and • Slovak Republic 2002 r f • Japan 2002 o sustainable development progress. r • United Kingdom 2002 m A first cycle of OECD Environmental Performance • Italy 2002 a n Reviews, covering all member countries, was • Netherlands 2003 c completed in 2000. The second cycle focuses on • Poland 2003 e environmental management, sustainable development • Mexico 2003 R e and international commitments. • Austria 2003 v • Canada 2004 ie w * Non-OECDmember country. s Subscribers to this printed periodical are entitled to free online access. If you do not C A yet have online access via your institution’s network contact your librarian or, if you N subscribe personally, send an email to A D [email protected] A www.oecd.org ISBN92-64-10776-2 97 2004 05 1 P -:HSTCQE=VU\\[W: © OECD, 2004. © Software: 1987-1996, Acrobat is a trademark of ADOBE. All rights reserved. OECD grants you the right to use one copy of this Program for your personal use only. Unauthorised reproduction, lending, hiring, transmission or distribution of any data or software is prohibited. You must treat the Program and associated materials and any elements thereof like any other copyrighted material. All requests should be made to: Head of Publications Service, OECD Publications Service, 2, rue André-Pascal, 75775 Paris Cedex 16, France. OECD Environmental Performance Reviews CANADA ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT Pursuant to Article 1 of the Convention signed in Paris on 14th December 1960, and which came into force on 30th September 1961, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) shall promote policies designed: – to achieve the highest sustainable economic growth and employment and a rising standard of living in member countries, while maintaining financial stability, and thus to contribute to the development of the world economy; – to contribute to sound economic expansion in member as well as non-member countries in the process of economic development; and – to contribute to the expansion of world trade on a multilateral, non- discriminatory basis in accordance with international obligations. The original member countries of the OECD are Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the UnitedKingdom and the United States. The following countries became members subsequently through accession at the dates indicated hereafter: Japan (28thApril1964), Finland (28th January 1969), Australia (7th June 1971), NewZealand (29th May 1973), Mexico (18th May 1994), the Czech Republic (21stDecember1995), Hungary (7th May 1996), Poland (22ndNovember1996), Korea (12th December 1996) and the Slovak Republic (14th December2000). The Commission of the European Communities takes part in the work of the OECD (Article 13 of the OECD Convention). Publié en français sous le titre : Examens environnementaux de l’OCDE CANADA © OECD 2004 Permission to reproduce a portion of this work for non-commercial purposes or classroom use should be obtained through the Centre français d’exploitation du droit de copie (CFC), 20, rue des Grands-Augustins, 75006 Paris, France, tel. (33-1) 44 07 47 70, fax (33-1) 46 34 67 19, for every country except the United States. In the United States permission should beobtained through the Copyright Clearance Center, Customer Service, (508)750-8400, 222Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923 USA, or CCC Online: www.copyright.com. All other applications for permission to reproduce or translate all or part of this book should be made to OECD Publications, 2, rue André-Pascal, 75775 Paris Cedex 16, France. OECD Environmental Performance Reviews: Canada 3 FOREWORD The principal aim of the OECD’s Environmental Performance Reviews programme is to help member countries improve their individual and collective performances in environmental management with the following primary goals: – to help individual governments assess progress; – to promote a continuous policy dialogue among member countries, through a peer review process; and – to stimulate greater accountability from member countries’ governments towards their public opinion, within developed countries and beyond. Environmental performance is assessed with regard to the degree of achievement of domestic objectives and international commitments. Such objectives and commit- ments may be broad aims, specific qualitative goals, precise quantitative targets or a commitment to a set of measures to be taken. Assessment of environmental perfor- mance is also placed within the context of historical environmental records, the present state of the environment, the physical endowment of the country in natural resources, its economic conditions and demographic trends. These systematic and independent reviews have been conducted for all member countries as part of the first cycle of reviews. The OECD is now engaged in the sec- ond cycle of reviews directed at promoting sustainable development, with emphasis on implementation of domestic and international environmental policy, as well as on the integration of economic, social and environmental decision-making. The present report reviews Canada’s environmental performance. The OECD extends its most sincere thanks to all those who helped in the course of this review, to the representatives of member countries to the Working Party on Environmental Performance, and especially to the examining countries (Australia, Austria and France) and their experts. The OECD is particularly indebted to the Government of Canada as well as those of Ontario and Quebec for their co-operation in expediting the provision of information and the organisation of the experts’ mission to Canada, and in facilitating contacts with many individuals both inside and outside administrative and governmental structures. The present review benefited from grant support from Japan, Norway and Switzerland. © OECD 2004 4 OECD Environmental Performance Reviews: Canada The OECD Working Party on Environmental Performance conducted the review of Canada at its meeting on 13-14January2004 and approved its conclusions and recommendations. This report is published under the authority of the Secretary- General of the OECD. Lorents G. Lorentsen Director, Environment Directorate © OECD 2004 OECD Environmental Performance Reviews: Canada 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS........................................ 15 1. Environmental Management........................................................................ 16 Implementing more efficient environmental policies.................................. 16 Air................................................................................................................. 18 Water............................................................................................................ 19 Nature and biodiversity................................................................................ 21 2. Towards Sustainable Development.............................................................. 23 Integration of environmental concerns in economic decisions.................... 23 Integration of environmental and social concerns........................................ 24 Sectoral integration: chemicals.................................................................... 26 3. International Commitments.......................................................................... 28 Part I ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2. AIR MANAGEMENT..................................................................................... 31 Recommendations.............................................................................................. 32 Conclusions....................................................................................................... 32 1. Policy Objectives.......................................................................................... 33 2. Performance in Meeting the Policy Objectives............................................ 36 3. Integration of Air Management in Transport Policies.................................. 40 4. Integration of Air Management in Energy Policies...................................... 44 3. WATER MANAGEMENT............................................................................. 51 Recommendations.............................................................................................. 52 Conclusions....................................................................................................... 52 1. Policy Objectives.......................................................................................... 53 2. Ambient Water Quality................................................................................ 57 2.1 Water quality in rivers........................................................................ 57 2.2 The Great Lakes.................................................................................. 58 2.3 Groundwater quality........................................................................... 60 2.4 Coastal water quality.......................................................................... 60 3. Water Use and Drinking Water Supply........................................................ 60 3.1 Water use............................................................................................ 60 3.2 Drinking water supply........................................................................ 62 © OECD 2004 6 OECD Environmental Performance Reviews: Canada 4. Connection to Sewerage and Waste Water Treatment.................................. 64 4.1 Municipal waste water........................................................................ 64 4.2 Industrial waste water......................................................................... 66 4.3 Policy framework............................................................................... 66 5. Integrating Agricultural and Water Policies................................................. 67 5.1 Nutrients............................................................................................. 68 5.2 Pesticides............................................................................................ 69 5.3 Adverse weather risks......................................................................... 69 6. Expenditure, Financing and Water Charges................................................. 70 6.1 Expenditure......................................................................................... 70 6.2 Municipal water charges and financing.............................................. 71 6.3 Economic instruments........................................................................ 72 4. NATURE AND BIODIVERSITY MANAGEMENT................................... 73 Recommendations.............................................................................................. 74 Conclusions....................................................................................................... 74 1. Policy Objectives.......................................................................................... 75 2. Biodiversity.................................................................................................. 76 3. Protected Areas............................................................................................ 80 3.1 Terrestrial ecosystems......................................................................... 83 3.2 Aquatic ecosystems............................................................................ 84 4. Forest Management...................................................................................... 85 4.1 Forest biodiversity.............................................................................. 85 4.2 National Forest Strategy..................................................................... 86 4.3 Sustainable forest management.......................................................... 88 5. International Co-operation........................................................................... 91 Part II SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 5. ENVIRONMENTAL-ECONOMIC INTERFACE...................................... 95 Recommendations.............................................................................................. 96 Conclusions....................................................................................................... 96 Integration of environmental concerns in economic decisions.................... 96 Implementing more efficient environmental policies.................................. 97 1. Towards Sustainable Development.............................................................. 98 1.1 Decoupling environmental pressures from economic growth............ 98 1.2 Sustainable development and institutional integration....................... 102 1.3 Sustainable development and market-based integration.................... 106 1.4 Pollution abatement control and environmental expenditure............. 112 2. Environmental Policy Implementation......................................................... 115 2.1 Environmental policy objectives........................................................ 115 © OECD 2004 OECD Environmental Performance Reviews: Canada 7 2.2 Intergovernmental institutional structures.......................................... 116 2.3 Implementation and enforcement of legislation................................. 118 2.4 Economic instruments........................................................................ 122 2.5 Land use planning............................................................................... 125 2.6 Role of industry.................................................................................. 126 6. ENVIRONMENTAL-SOCIAL INTERFACE.............................................. 131 Recommendations.............................................................................................. 132 Conclusions....................................................................................................... 132 1. Environment, Health and Safety.................................................................. 133 1.1 Environmental pollution and human health....................................... 133 1.2 Natural disasters and environmental emergencies.............................. 135 2. Environment and Employment..................................................................... 139 2.1 Environmental industry and environmental employment.................. 139 2.2 Active environmental employment policies....................................... 140 3. Environmental Disparities............................................................................ 141 3.1 Access to natural resources................................................................. 141 3.2 The North............................................................................................ 145 4. Environmental Democracy........................................................................... 148 4.1 Environmental knowledge management............................................ 148 4.2 Public access and participation........................................................... 149 7. SECTORAL INTEGRATION: CHEMICALS............................................ 153 Recommendations.............................................................................................. 154 Conclusions....................................................................................................... 154 1. Environmental Pressures from Chemicals................................................... 155 1.1 The chemicals sector in Canada......................................................... 155 1.2 Risks for health and environment....................................................... 156 2. Overall Policy Objectives and Institutional Framework.............................. 159 3. Policy Responses.......................................................................................... 161 3.1 Examination of existing substances under CEPA............................... 161 3.2 Notification of new substances under CEPA...................................... 163 3.3 Management of risks to human health and the environment: federalandprovincial government initiatives.................................... 164 3.4 Management of risks for human health and the environment: otherinitiatives................................................................................... 165 3.5 Public information: National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI) underCEPA........................................................................................ 166 3.6 Pesticides............................................................................................ 167 4. Regional and International Activities and Commitments............................ 167 4.1 Bilateral co-operation......................................................................... 167 4.2 Multilateral co-operation.................................................................... 168 © OECD 2004 8 OECD Environmental Performance Reviews: Canada Part III INTERNATIONAL COMMITMENTS 8. INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION......................................................... 169 Recommendations.............................................................................................. 170 Conclusions....................................................................................................... 170 1. Objectives..................................................................................................... 171 2. Environmental Management along the Borders........................................... 176 2.1 Transboundary air pollution............................................................... 176 2.2 The Great Lakes and transboundary waters....................................... 179 2.3 Transboundary waste management..................................................... 181 3. Marine Issues................................................................................................ 182 3.1 Marine pollution................................................................................. 182 3.2 Marine fisheries.................................................................................. 184 4. Climate Change............................................................................................ 187 4.1 Progress so far.................................................................................... 187 4.2 Present climate policy implementation.............................................. 190 4.3 Future developments and assessment................................................. 193 5. Trade and Environment................................................................................ 194 5.1 Integrating trade and environmental policies..................................... 194 5.2 Trade of specific items........................................................................ 194 5.3 Certification, export credits and guidelines for multinational enterprises 196 6. Development Assistance.............................................................................. 197 6.1 Total ODA.......................................................................................... 197 6.2 Environmental ODA........................................................................... 198 6.3 Other environmental assistance.......................................................... 199 7. The Pursuit of Sustainable Development..................................................... 199 REFERENCES I.A Selected environmental data........................................................................... 202 I.B Selected economic data.................................................................................. 204 I.C Selected social data........................................................................................ 206 II.A Selected multilateral agreements (worldwide)............................................... 208 II.B Selected multilateral agreements (regional)................................................... 212 III. Abbreviations................................................................................................. 214 IV. Physical Context............................................................................................. 218 V. Selected Environmental Events (1995-2003)................................................. 220 VI. Selected Environmental Web Sites................................................................ 228 © OECD 2004