This dataset contains spatial indices of environmental and social sensitivities for natural resources development for all of Canada. Both model result rasters (index maps) and input factors (weighted indices) are included along with point file locations of mineral, forestry, renewable energy, and future major projects.

The RFI identifies areas of land and water encircling a recreation feature or combination of features that support, or have the potential to support, one or more recreation activities. These areas are rated for their significance or importance to recreation and for their sensitivity to alteration

The VLI identifies and delineates areas of visual sensitivity near communities and along travel corridors throughout the province. It includes information about the visual condition, characteristics and sensitivity to alteration. It also houses scenic area and established Visual Quality Objective ( VQO ) attributes.

**PLEASE NOTE:** The Environmental Monitoring System will be replaced by the EnMoDS system on March 5th, 2026. The EMS results objects will not contain new data after Feb 26th, 2026. For recent data please refer to [EnMoDS spatial locations and location groups](https://catalogue.data.gov.bc.ca/dataset/f60fa4b5-e3d0-44ad-b5d8-778d29764e34). Environmental Monitoring Stations (EMS) spatial points coverage for the Province by LOCATION TYPES. The following spatial layers reference this as a data source: 1. Environmental Monitoring - All Stations 2. Environmental Monitoring Stations - Air Monitoring (Ambient Air Site) 3. Environmental Monitoring Stations - Air Monitoring (Air Permit) 4. Environmental Monitoring Stations - Water Sites (Water Monitoring) 5. Environmental Monitoring Stations - Water Sites (Water Permits) 6. Environmental Monitoring Stations - Water Sites (Well) 7. Environmental Monitoring Stations - Water Sites (Observation Well) 8. Environmental Monitoring Stations - Water Sites (Spring)

Environmental monitoring locations from the [Environmental Monitoring Data System (EnMoDS)](https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content?id=BDE7F9F4BC4546629582CEBC4ABC8101). These point location records show where discrete environmental monitoring may have taken place. Locations are generally in naturalized settings such as rivers and lakes, but also include anthropogenic features like wells and industrial facilities including waste discharges. Key attribute fields for filtering include, location ID, location type, location group, observation count, and most recent field visit date. Observational results for each location can be accessed from [EnMoDS Web Reporting](https://enmodswr.nrs.gov.bc.ca/) or from [EnMoDS Results Data Records](https://catalogue.data.gov.bc.ca/dataset/83a585fe-effb-48bd-8a03-d35db4eeb1bb). Information regarding changes from the Environmental Monitoring System along with other resources are available on the EnMoDS website listed in related links below.

Environmental Monitoring Program data for aquaculture.

Ecologically and Biologically Significant Areas (EBSAs) are areas within Canada's oceans that have been identified through formal scientific assessments as having special biological or ecological significance when compared with the surrounding marine ecosystem.Failure to define an area as an EBSA does not mean that it is unimportant ecologically. All areas serve ecological functions to some extent and require sustainable management. Rather, areas identified as EBSAs should be viewed as the most important areas where, with existing knowledge, regulators and marine users should be particularly risk averse to ensure ecosystems remain healthy and productive.Why are EBSAs identified?EBSA information is used to inform marine planning, including environmental assessment and the siting of marine-based activities, by:- Informing and guiding project-specific or regional environmental assessments;- Informing and guiding industries and regulators in their planning and operations, for example: EBSAs have been acknowledged and referred to (often as "Special Areas" or "Potentially Sensitive Areas") in oil and gas related assessments;- EBSA information has been provided to proponents of submarine cable projects to be used for route planning purposes;- Informing and guiding Integrated Oceans Management (IOM) process within five Large Ocean Management Areas (LOMAs) and twelve marine bioregions;- Serving as a basis for the identification of Areas of Interest (AOIs) and of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) (individually and in the context of planning bioregional networks of MPAs).How are EBSAs identified?The process used to identify EBSAs is generally comprised of two phases. The first phase involves compiling scientific data and knowledge of a marine area's ecosystems - notably fish species, marine mammals, sea birds, marine flora, marine productivity, physical and chemical conditions and geology. "Knowledge" includes experiential knowledge of long-time uses of the areas. In some cases (e.g., in the Arctic), substantial efforts are taken to collect traditional knowledge on ecosystems and environmental conditions from community members, fish harvests, hunters and individuals whose knowledge of the study area complement often helps fill scientific data gaps.In the second phase, the available information for a marine area (e.g. a bioregion) is assessed against five nationally-established science-based criteria including:- Uniqueness: How distinct is the ecosystem of an area compared to surrounding ones?- Aggregation: Whether or not species populate or convene to the study area?- Fitness consequence: How critical the area is to the life history of the species that use it (e.g. is it a spawning or feeding ground)?- Naturalness: How pristine or disturbed by human activities is the study area?- Resilience: What is the ability of the ecosystem to bounce back if it is disturbed?Progress to date and next stepsEBSAs have been identified for large portions of Canada's Atlantic and Pacific Oceans as well as most of the Arctic oceans. EBSAs will continue to be identified in priority areas as resources become available to carry out the process. The boundaries or locations of existing EBSAs may be modified to reflect both new knowledge and changing environmental conditions.

This map data displays environmentally impacted sites in Saskatchewan with location, confirmed substance and current status.The Ministry of Environment is responsible for regulating environmentally impacted sites in Saskatchewan to protect the environment and the public.  An environmentally impacted site is an area of land or water that contains a substance that may cause or is causing an adverse effect.An adverse effect is an impairment of or damage to the environment or harm to human health caused by any chemical, physical or biological alterations or any combination of them.Please note: information may take up to 30 days to be updated and is subject to change at any time.For further information, please contact the Ministry of Environment Inquiry Centre (Toll Free): 800-567-4224, centre.inquiry@gov.sk.ca or visit the environmentally impacted sites page on Saskatchewan.ca. Terms and definitionsObject ID: An internal GeoHub record ID number. This number can be ignored.  Case ID: The Case ID is the ministry’s file number – a unique identifier. It is NOT the date the site became impacted.  Status – The stages of management for an environmentally impacted site.   Notification: The ministry has received notification that pollutants have been discovered at the site.  The concentration of this pollutant exceeds the threshold outlined in the Saskatchewan Environmental Code and must be reported. The pollutants may cause an adverse effect to the environment or human health. The ministry has been made aware of this and has determined that the site is an environmentally impacted site. Assessment: The site is currently undergoing, or has recently completed, analysis to determine the cause, nature or extent of potential or existing adverse effect (e.g. a Phase 2 Environmental Site Assessment). Corrective Action Plan: The site is currently undergoing, or has recently completed, activity that aims to prevent, minimize, mitigate, remedy or reclaim adverse effects (e.g. removal of impacts by excavation). Closure: This is a historical status term for environmentally impacted sites that is no longer used. The Notice of Site Condition status replaces the former status of Closure. It indicates that corrective actions have been completed at the site, endpoints have been achieved and an updated environmental status of the site has been provided to the ministry. However, no application has been made for a Notice of Site Condition certificate.  Notice of Site Condition: The ministry is satisfied that an acceptable risk level exists for the area of the site addressed in the corrective action plan. Confirmed substance: The substances of concern at the site. Examples that may cause an adverse effect are petroleum hydrocarbons, toxic metals, air pollutants, acids and solvents.

**PLEASE NOTE:** The Environmental Monitoring System will be replaced by the EnMoDS system on March 5th, 2026. The EMS results objects will not contain new data after Feb 26th, 2026. For recent data please refer to [EnMoDS spatial locations and location groups](https://catalogue.data.gov.bc.ca/dataset/f60fa4b5-e3d0-44ad-b5d8-778d29764e34). Environmental monitoring stations (EMS) points coverage for the Province by MONITORING LOCATION GROUPS.

The layer provides information on suspended particulate matter (SPM) concentrations by area. There is a natural interaction phenomenon between hydrocarbons and SPM, that creates hydrocarbon-SPM aggregates. The SPM in the water column, hence has an effect on hydrocarbon capacity to sink to the bottom in aggregate form (Gong et collab., 2014 ; Fitzpatrick et collab., 2015, cited in Centre d'expertise en analyse environnementale du Québec, 2015). Additional InformationThe suspended particulate matter data for this layer are derived from multiple sources given the need to cover the St. Lawrence portion from Montreal to Anticosti. The layer has been cut into 6 different zones. Denis Lefaivre, a researcher at Maurice-Lamontagne Institute, has provided the coordinates of the points allowing the delimitation of areas. The values in each zone are derived from different studies carried out at different times. The references are cited below for each of the polygons from West to East, as well as for the summary:1- Department of Sustainable Development, Environment and Climate Change and Environment and Climate Change Canada, 2016. Recommendations for Suspended Matter Management (ESM) during dredging activities. Quebec. 64 pages and appendices. http://planstlaurent.qc.ca/fileadmin/publications/diverses/Registre_de_dragage/Recommandations_dragage.pdf2- D'Anglejan, B. 1990. Recent Sediments and Sediment Transport Process in the St. Lawrence Estuary. In Oceanography of a Large-Scale Estuarine System: The St. Lawrence, edited by M. I. El-Sabh and N. Silverberg. New York: Springer-Verlag, 109-153.3- Silverberg, N., and B. Sundby. 1979. Observations in the maximum turbidity of the St. Lawrence estuary. Can. J. Earth Sci. 16: 939-950.4- Michel Lebeuf, 2016.Unpublished personal data.Collected between 2015-2016 for research purposes.5- Sundby, B. 1974. Distribution and Transport of Suspended Particulate Matter in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences11 (11): 1517-1533.6- Gong, Y., X. Zhao, Z. Cai, S. E. O'Reilly, X. Hao and D. Zhao. 2014. A review of oil, dispersedoil and sediment interactions in the aquatic environment: Influence on the fate, transportand remediation of oil spills. Marine Pollution Bulletin, vol. 79: 1-2, p.16-33. 7- Fitzpatrick, F.A., M.C., Boufadel, R., Johnson, K., Lee, T.P., Graan, A.C., Bejarano, Z.,Zhu, D., Waterman, D.M., Capone, E., Hayter, S.K., Hamilton, T., Deffer, M.H.,Garcia, et J.S., Hassan. 2015. Oil-particle interactions and submergence from crudeoil spills in marine and freshwater environments – Review of the science and futurescience needs. U.S. Geological Survey Open-file report 2015-2016, 33 p.8- Centre d'expertise en analyse environnementale du Québec,2015.Hydrocarbures pétroliers : caractéristiques, devenir et criminalistique environnementale –Études GENV222 et GENV23, Évaluation environnementale stratégique globale sur leshydrocarbures. Ministère du Développement durable, de l’Environnement et de la Lutte contreles changements climatiques, 41 p. et annexes.9- CSL – Centre Saint-Laurent, 1997. Le Saint-Laurent : dynamique et contamination des sédiments, Montréal, Environnement Canada – Région du Québec, Conservation de l’environnement, 127 p. (coll. BILAN Saint-Laurent). [Rapport thématique sur l’état du Saint-Laurent].