The Automatic Identification System (AIS) is a global, satellite-based and terrestrial-based ship tracking system that uses shipborne equipment to remotely track vessel identification and positional information and is typically required on vessels of 300 gross tonnage or more on an international voyage, of 500 gross tonnage or more not on an international voyage, and passenger ships of all sizes. AIS tracking technologies are primarily used in support of real-time maritime domain awareness and for maritime security and safety of life at sea. This report describes a geographic information system (GIS) analysis of 2019 AIS data to produce yearly and monthly vessel density maps of all vessel classes combined and yearly density maps of each vessel class. The year 2019 was selected to portray shipping densities in a pre-COVID 19 pandemic depiction of the maritime transport sector in the Northwest Atlantic. Vessel density map applications include use in spatial analysis and decision support for marine spatial planning. In 2023 the process was applied to the years 2013 through to 2022 and were made available using the same processes that were applied to the original 2019 datasets.

The Coastal Environmental Baseline Program is a multi-year Fisheries and Oceans Canada initiative designed to work with Indigenous and local communities and other key parties to collect coastal environmental data at six pilot sites across Canada (Port of Vancouver, Port of Prince Rupert, Lower St. Lawrence Estuary, Port of Saint John, Placentia Bay, and Iqaluit). The goal of the Program is to gather local information in these areas in effort to build a better understanding of marine ecological conditions. The Maritimes region has developed a habitat classification program to align with the oceanographic interests and data needs of local communities and stakeholders, with the goal of sharing this information via open data. In 2020, a habitat survey in the lower Musquash Marine Protected Area (MPA) was undertaken to further develop this project, using an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) equipped with high-frequency (450 kHz) side scan sonar to build a habitat map of the MPA. This dataset includes mosaicked series of sonar images (raw & position-corrected versions), covering roughly 6 km2 of marine and intertidal areas in the Musquash MPA. Doppler Velocity logs and mission-specific files for each survey are also included, along with detailed methodological documentation. These data were generated from 17 separate survey missions that were completed in August, September and October 2020.

The Automatic Identification System (AIS) is a global, satellite-based and terrestrial-based ship tracking system that uses shipborne equipment to remotely track vessel identification and positional information and is typically required on vessels of 300 gross tonnage or more on an international voyage, of 500 gross tonnage or more not on an international voyage, and passenger ships of all sizes. AIS tracking technologies are primarily used in support of real-time maritime domain awareness and for maritime security and safety of life at sea. This report describes a geographic information system (GIS) analysis of 2019 AIS data to produce yearly and monthly vessel density maps of all vessel classes combined and yearly density maps of each vessel class. The year 2019 was selected to portray shipping densities in a pre-COVID 19 pandemic depiction of the maritime transport sector in the Northwest Atlantic. Vessel density map applications include use in spatial analysis and decision support for marine spatial planning. In 2023 the process was applied to the years 2013 through to 2022 and were made available using the same processes that were applied to the original 2019 datasets.

The Automatic Identification System (AIS) is a global, satellite-based and terrestrial-based ship tracking system that uses shipborne equipment to remotely track vessel identification and positional information and is typically required on vessels of 300 gross tonnage or more on an international voyage, of 500 gross tonnage or more not on an international voyage, and passenger ships of all sizes. AIS tracking technologies are primarily used in support of real-time maritime domain awareness and for maritime security and safety of life at sea. This report describes a geographic information system (GIS) analysis of 2019 AIS data to produce yearly and monthly vessel density maps of all vessel classes combined and yearly density maps of each vessel class. The year 2019 was selected to portray shipping densities in a pre-COVID 19 pandemic depiction of the maritime transport sector in the Northwest Atlantic. Vessel density map applications include use in spatial analysis and decision support for marine spatial planning.In 2023 the process was applied to the years 2013 through to 2022 and were made available using the same processes that were applied to the original 2019 datasets.

The Automatic Identification System (AIS) is a global, satellite-based and terrestrial-based ship tracking system that uses shipborne equipment to remotely track vessel identification and positional information and is typically required on vessels of 300 gross tonnage or more on an international voyage, of 500 gross tonnage or more not on an international voyage, and passenger ships of all sizes. AIS tracking technologies are primarily used in support of real-time maritime domain awareness and for maritime security and safety of life at sea. This report describes a geographic information system (GIS) analysis of 2019 AIS data to produce yearly and monthly vessel density maps of all vessel classes combined and yearly density maps of each vessel class. The year 2019 was selected to portray shipping densities in a pre-COVID 19 pandemic depiction of the maritime transport sector in the Northwest Atlantic. Vessel density map applications include use in spatial analysis and decision support for marine spatial planning. In 2023 the process was applied to the years 2013 through to 2022 and were made available using the same processes that were applied to the original 2019 datasets.

The Automatic Identification System (AIS) is a global, satellite-based and terrestrial-based ship tracking system that uses shipborne equipment to remotely track vessel identification and positional information and is typically required on vessels of 300 gross tonnage or more on an international voyage, of 500 gross tonnage or more not on an international voyage, and passenger ships of all sizes. AIS tracking technologies are primarily used in support of real-time maritime domain awareness and for maritime security and safety of life at sea. This report describes a geographic information system (GIS) analysis of 2019 AIS data to produce yearly and monthly vessel density maps of all vessel classes combined and yearly density maps of each vessel class. The year 2019 was selected to portray shipping densities in a pre-COVID 19 pandemic depiction of the maritime transport sector in the Northwest Atlantic. Vessel density map applications include use in spatial analysis and decision support for marine spatial planning. In 2023 the process was applied to the years 2013 through to 2022 and were made available using the same processes that were applied to the original 2019 datasets.

Macroalgae dominated areas with a vegetated cover above 25%, located in the coastal zone of the Estuary and the Gulf of St. Lawrence (Quebec)This dataset was designed for Environment and Climate Change Canada's (ECCC) National Environmental Emergencies Center (NEEC) for oil spill preparedness and response. The polygons of this layer were selected from the surface geodatabase of coastal ecosystems from the UQAR-MPO project Mapping coastal ecosystems of the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence. Are represented in this dataset exclusively the polygons whose plant dominance corresponds to a class of macroalgae and presenting a semi-vegetated (25-75%) or vegetated (75-100%) cover. The study area includes all of the estuarine and maritime coasts of Quebec, with the exception of certain sectors, including most of the Lower North Shore and Anticosti Island, with the exception of villages of Kegaska, la Romaine, Chevery, Blanc-Sablon and Port-Menier. Some islands off the estuary and gulf coasts are part of the region covered, such as Île d'Orléans, Isle-aux-Coudres, Île Verte and Île Bonaventure.The mapping of coastal ecosystems was carried out jointly by the Laboratory for Dynamics and Integrated Coastal Zone Management (LDGIZC) of the University of Quebec at Rimouski as part of the Coastal Resilience Project (https: //ldgizc.uqar.ca/Web/projets/projet-resilience-cotiere) funded by the MELCC; and by the Fisheries and Oceans Canada team, as part of its Integrated marine response planning (IMRP) component of the Oceans Protection Plan (OPP),with the objective of updating the Marine Oil Spill Preparedness and Response Regime of Canada. The master geodatabase of coastal ecosystems is hosted and distributed by UQAR on their SIGEC-Web mapping platform: https://ldgizc.uqar.ca/Web/sigecwebThe macroalgae characterization was mainly carried out from the photo-interpretation of RGBI aerial photos acquired by the DFO (2015-2022) and oblique helicopter photos acquired by UQAR in 2017. Data from 3155 sampling stations, conducted aboard small boats during DFO field campaigns (2017-2023) were used to detail the nature of algal communities and validate the photo-interpretation.Credits © UQAR-MPO (2025, Laboratoire de dynamique et de gestion intégrée des zones côtières, Pêches et Océans Canada)RéférenceProvencher-Nolet, L., Paquette, L., Pitre, L.D., Grégoire, B. and Desjardins, C. 2024. Cartographie des macrophytes estuariens et marins du Québec. Rapp. Tech. Can. Sci. halieut. Aquat. 0000 : v + 99 p.Grégoire, B., Pitre, L.D., Provencher-Nolet, L., Paquette, L. and Desjardins, C. 2024. Distribution d’organismes marins de la zone côtière peu profonde du Québec recensés par imagerie sous-marine de 2017 à 2021. Rapp. tech. can. sci. halieut. aquat. 0000 : v + 78 p.Grégoire, B. 2022. Biodiversité du relevé côtier Planification pour une intervention environnementale intégrée dans l’estuaire et le golfe du Saint-Laurent (2017–2021). Observatoire global du Saint-Laurent. [Jeu de données]Jobin, A., Marquis, G., Provencher-Nolet, L., Gabaj Castrillo. M. J., Trubiano C., Drouet, M., Eustache-Létourneau, D., Drejza, S. Fraser, C. Marie, G. et P. Bernatchez (2021) Cartographie des écosystèmes côtiers du Québec maritime — Rapport méthodologique. Chaire de recherche en géoscience côtière, Laboratoire de dynamique et de gestion intégrée des zones côtières, Université du Québec à Rimouski. Rapport remis au ministère de l’Environnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques, septembre 2021, 98 p.

The locations of coastal British Columbia marine navigation aids. The Coastal BC datasets are circa 2004 and legacy in nature. Caution should be exercised when using this data, as it may not be accurate or complete. There are currently no plans to update.

This cartographic dataset represents a geomorphological update of the boundaries of the five inland water bodies that form the Magdalen Islands Marine Refuge. It was produced by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) as part of its marine refuge characterization work.The data used comes from the August 15, 2022 version of the Quebec maritime Geospatial Database of Coastal Ecosystems (GDB), developed from various sources including satellite and airborne images from 2019 (Jobin et al. 2021; Provencher-Nolet et al. 2024). The boundaries of the inland water bodies were defined according to the upper high tide line, which represents the maximum extent of the water during the highest tides.The final product is a polygonal shapefile representing the five inland water bodies of the marine refuge as well as the terrestrial areas of the archipelago. The data are projected in NAD83 / MTM zone 4.For more information on the method used to generate this layer from the GDB, see Grégoire et al. (2026). The method used to create the source geospatial data is described in Jobin et al. (2021) and Provencher-Nolet et al. (2024).

Launched in 2017, the Cumulative Effects of Marine Shipping (CEMS) initiative is part of Canada’s $1.5 billion Oceans Protection Plan, which is providing economic opportunities to Canadians today, while protecting our coasts and waterways for future generations. The Cumulative Effects of Marine Shipping initiative is another way that the Government of Canada is protecting our coasts and waterways.https://tc.canada.ca/en/marine-transportation/marine-pollution-environmental-response/cumulative-effects-marine-shippingAs part of this initiative, Transport Canada is working with Indigenous partners and stakeholders in six pilot areas across Canada. Together, we are trying to understand the effects of marine shipping in various coastal areas. These pilot areas include:- North Coast British Columbia- South Coast British Columbia- St. Lawrence and Saguenay Rivers, Quebec- Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia- Placentia Bay, Newfoundland- Cambridge Bay, Nunavut