About the Canadian Environmental Sustainability Indicators

The Canadian Environmental Sustainability Indicators (CESI) program provides data and information to track Canada's performance on key environmental sustainability issues including climate change and air quality, water quality and availability, and protecting nature. The environmental indicators are based on objective and comprehensive information and convey environmental trends in a straightforward and transparent manner.

The indicators are prepared by Environment and Climate Change Canada with the support of other federal government departments, such as Health Canada, Statistics Canada, Natural Resources Canada, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, as well as provincial and territorial government departments. Designed to be relevant to the Government's policy, the indicators are built on rigorous methodology and high quality, regularly available data from surveys and monitoring networks.

The CESI website ensures that national, regional, local and international trends are readily accessible and transparently presented to all Canadians through the use of graphics, explanatory text, interactive maps and downloadable data. Indicator results are linked to their key social and economic drivers and information is provided on how the issues are influenced by consumers, businesses and governments. Each indicator is accompanied by a technical explanation of its calculation.

CESI is the prime instrument to measure progress of the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy and responds to Environment and Climate Change Canada's commitments under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act and the Department of the Environment Act to report to Canadians on the state of the environment.

Suggested citation for generally referring to the site: Environment and Climate Change Canada (current year) Canadian Environmental Sustainability Indicators. Consulted on day Month, year.

For citation of specific indicators, please refer to the relevant "Data Sources and Methods" document.

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