The assessments layer represents all assessments undertaken under the Impact Assessment Act, including those that continue under the provisions of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012. It includes assessments undertaken by the Impact Assessment Agency and other federal authorities as posted on the Canadian Impact Assessment Registry Internet site. The location of a given assessment included in the dataset is approximate and is based on information submitted by proponents, if applicable. More than one location may be identified for a given assessment. This dataset does not include information related to the footprint.Additional information about this dataset is available on the Canadian Impact Assessment Registry Internet site.

Study Area defined in the Agreement to Conduct a Regional Assessment of Offshore Wind Development in Nova Scotia. The study area was created by the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada in collaboration with Natural Resources Canada and the province of Nova Scotia.

Study Area defined in the Agreement to Conduct a Regional Assessment of Offshore Wind Development in Newfoundland and Labrador. The study area was created by the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada in collaboration with Natural Resources Canada and the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

This dataset is provided by the Ministry of Affordability and Utilities, Electricity Sustainability and Innovation Branch, and identifies the high-quality agricultural lands, buffer zones, and visual impact assessment zones in Alberta designated under the Electric Energy Land Use and Visual Assessment Regulation (EELUVAR) made under the Alberta Utilities Commission Act. These areas apply to applications for the construction or operation of power plants under Alberta Utilities Commission Rule 007, unless exempted under the regulation. Restrictions on development of high-quality agricultural land are limited to privately owned land as per the regulation. This data product includes the following datasets: Land Suitability Rating System (LSRS) Class 2 and Class 3H Lands, Visual Impact Assessment Zones, and Buffer Zones. Visual Impact Assessment Zones and Buffer Zones contain both private and public lands.

DFO Maritimes Region has conducted a cumulative human impact mapping analysis for the Scotian Shelf-Bay of Fundy management area to support ongoing Marine Spatial Planning initiatives (Murphy et al. 2024). Cumulative human impact mapping (CIM) combines spatial information on human activities and habitats with a matrix of vulnerability weights, into an intuitive relative ‘cumulative impact score’ that shows where cumulative human impacts are greatest and least. To map cumulative impacts in DFO’s Maritimes Region, a recently developed ecosystem vulnerability assessment for Atlantic Canadian waters (Murray et al. 2022) was combined with spatial information on 21 different habitat types and 45 human activities across five different sectors (climate change, land-based, marine-based, coastal, commercial fishing) following the methodology from Halpern et al. (2008). An uncertainty analysis of the cumulative impact map was conducted to assess the robustness of results and identify hot and cold spots of cumulative impacts. This dataset provides: 1) cumulative impact maps for the DFO Maritimes Region at 1 km2 resolution: a total cumulative impact map (i.e. including all 45 human activities), as well as cumulative impact maps for each of the five sectors, 2) a layer that identifies which grid cells are considered hot and cold spots of cumulative human impacts, and 3) the habitat layers included in the CIM.For further information concerning specifics of the maps and methods see Murphy et al. (2024) or contact the data provider. References:Halpern, B.S., Walbridge, S., Selkoe, K.A., Kappel, C.V., Micheli, F., D'Agrosa, C., Bruno, J.F., Casey, K.S., Ebert, C., Fox, H.E., Fujita, R., Heinemann, D., Lenihan, H.S., Madin, E.M.P., Perry, M.T., Selig, E.R., Spalding, M., Steneck, R., and Watson, R. 2008. A Global Map of Human Impact on Marine Ecosystems. Science. 319(5865): 948-952. doi:10.1126/science.1149345.Murray, C.C., Kelly, N.E., Nelson, J.C., Murphy, G.E.P., and Agbayani, S. 2022. Cumulative impact mapping and vulnerability of Canadian marine ecosystems to anthropogenic activities and stressors. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Res. Doc. 2022/XXX. vi. + 52 p.Murphy, G.E.P., Stock, A., and Kelly, N.E. 2024 (in press). From land to deep sea: A continuum of cumulative human impacts on marine habitats in Atlantic Canada. Ecosphere.Cite this data as: Murphy, Grace; Kelly, Noreen (2023) Cumulative human impact maps for the Bay of Fundy and Scotian Shelf. Published September 2023. Coastal Ecosystems Science Division, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Dartmouth, N.S. https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/37b59b8b-1c1c-4869-802f-c09571cc984b

Fisheries and Oceans Canada has conducted a cumulative human impact mapping analysis for Pacific Canada to support ongoing Marine Spatial Planning. Cumulative impact mapping (CIM) combines spatial information on human activities, habitats, and a matrix of vulnerability weights into an intuitive relative ‘cumulative impact score’ that shows where cumulative human impacts are greatest and least. To map cumulative impacts, a recently developed ecosystem vulnerability assessment for Pacific Canadian waters (Murray et al. 2022) was combined with spatial information on thirty-eight (38) different habitat types and forty-five (45) human activities following the methodology from Halpern et al.(2008) and Murray et al. (2015). The cumulative impact map is provided in a 1x1 km grid used for oceans management by Fisheries and Oceans Canada. For further information, please contact the data provider.

A source protection area (SPA) is an area of land and water governed by a Source Protection Authority, an agency, person or body. This dataset defines the geographic boundaries where each SPA's terms of reference, assessment reports and source protection plans must be developed. *[SPA]: source protection area

This geospatial data depicts preliminary offshore wind licencing areas recommended by the Committee for the Regional Assessment of Offshore Wind Development in Newfoundland and Labrador (Committee). These areas were identified as an interim product during the Regional Assessment process. The Committee is tasked to complete its Regional Assessment Report by January 2025. As part of the terms of amended agreement set out by the Governments of Canada and Newfoundland and Labrador, the Committee submitted an interim report to Ministers on March 22, 2024. This report included a preliminary map of recommended areas for offshore wind. Based on work completed to date, the Committee has found these areas are where offshore wind development is most likely feasible and will have the least impact within offshore Newfoundland and Labrador. These areas are preliminary and will be refined throughout the remainder of the Regional Assessment. Through the Regional Assessment process, the Committee is providing federal and provincial Ministers with information, knowledge, and analysis regarding future offshore wind development. Their work is intended to inform and improve future planning, licencing, and impact assessment processes. Any offshore wind areas identified by the Committee do not reflect official offshore wind licencing areas. The Committee is providing these areas to Ministers for their consideration, as the offshore wind regulatory process is being established.

Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Act (YESAA) Assessment District boundaries. This data set was created at a scale of 1:250,000 from metes and bounds provided in the "MINISTERIAL ORDER ESTABLISHING ASSESSMENT DISTRICT BOUNDARIES PURSUANT TO SECTION 20(1) OF THE YUKON ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT ACT".Distributed from [GeoYukon](https://yukon.ca/geoyukon) by the [Government of Yukon](https://yukon.ca/maps) . Discover more digital map data and interactive maps from Yukon's digital map data collection.For more information: [geomatics.help@yukon.ca](mailto:geomatics.help@yukon.ca)

To support the implementation of the Impact Assessment Act, Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) received funding over  five years (2018-23) for cumulative effects research to be conducted by three of NRCan’s science sectors – the Canada Centre for Mapping and Earth Observation within the Strategic Policy and Innovation Sector, the Canadian Forest Service, and the Geological Survey of Canada within the Lands and Minerals Sector – to conduct key earth observation, forest, and geoscience research. The overarching goal of this research is to inform regional assessment and related impact assessment processes, with a central focus on making the science and knowledge generated open and accessible to the public via the Open Science and Data Platform . Projects from all three sectors generated authoritative data on the status and trends of ecosystem parameters, as well as provided unique science and technical analysis, synthesis and advice on topics related to the cumulative effects of natural resource development. This Story Map synthesizes the cumulative effects science generated over the past five years. Through the Story Map platform, we hope to illustrate the national scale of this research program and the diversity of locations in Canada within which research has been conducted.