Depicts priority area for work under the Regional Assessment of Offshore Wind Development in Newfoundland and Labrador. The Committee for the Regional Assessment of Offshore Wind Development in Newfoundland and Labrador (Committee) is responsible for providing information, knowledge and analysis regarding future offshore wind development (OSW) to inform and improve future planning, licencing and impact assessment processes. The Committee’s mandate is set out in the Agreement to Conduct the Regional Assessment of Offshore Wind Development in Newfoundland and Labrador (Agreement), and includes assessing potential environmental, health, social and economic effects of future OSW. The Agreement includes a broad Study Area. In November 2023, the Committee determined OSW interest in the foreseeable future is more likely within a portion of the Study Area set out in the Agreement. The Committee defined this portion of the Study Area as the assessment's Focus Area. The Committee continues to conduct the Regional Assessment (i.e., present information on existing conditions and consider potential impacts of OSW) within the Focus Area. The Committee's decision to define the Focus Area and supporting rationale is available here: https://iaac-aeic.gc.ca/050/evaluations/document/153431 The Agreement to conduct the Regional Assessment is available here: https://iaac-aeic.gc.ca/050/documents/p84343/147037E.pdf

This geospatial data depicts the Draft Offshore Wind Licencing Areas (Draft Areas) recommended by the Committee for the Regional Assessment of Offshore Wind Development in Newfoundland and Labrador (Committee).*Based on work completed to date, the Committee has found the Draft Areas are where offshore wind development would have the least impact within the Regional Assessment Focus Area. Identifying Areas:Section 6 of the Draft Regional Assessment Report (see Data Resources below) includes details on how the Draft Areas were identified. They are the result of the constraints analysis summarized below, with very little modification to area boundaries. The Committee successively removed areas from the Regional Assessment Focus Area (published on Open Government by the Impact Assessment Agency on December 1, 2023). Constraints analysis steps included: • Step 1: Creating Coastal Buffers.• Step 2: Removing Marine Critical Habitat.• Step 3: Removing Marine Protected Areas. • Step 4: Removing Marine Traffic Routes.• Step 5: Removing Areas with High Vessel Traffic.• Step 6: Removing the South Coast Fjords NMCA Study Area.• Step 7: Removing Areas around National Parks & World Heritage Sites.• Step 8: Removing High Density Fishing Areas.• Step 9: Removing Community-based Coastal Resources.An Iterative Process:Identifying offshore wind licencing areas is an iterative process. On March 22, 2024, the Committee submitted its Interim Report to Ministers. This report included a preliminary map of recommended areas for offshore wind development licencing. The preliminary areas were updated based on engagement outcomes, additional data and analysis submitted to the Committee by Regional Assessment participants, and additional research and analysis completed by the Committee between March and October 2024. On October 1, 2024, the Committee’s Draft Report, including updated offshore wind areas, was published for a public comment period. The Draft Areas supersede the Preliminary Offshore Wind Licencing Areas. The Draft Areas are also subject to change. The Committee will submit its Final Report and Initial Offshore Wind Licencing Areas for Consideration to Ministers on or before January 23, 2025. The Committee recommends that regulators consider the forthcoming Initial Offshore Wind Energy Licencing Areas, and the Committee’s report to Ministers, to help inform offshore wind development licencing areas in the region.Latest Update:The Committee’s Final Report and final version of Initial Offshore Wind Energy Licencing Areas for Consideration were submitted to Ministers on January 23, 2025. This completes the Committee’s mandate. Ministers may also choose to make the final versions of these areas available following the Regional Assessment. However, no changes have been made to the geospatial data representing the Draft Areas (published here).Please note the Committee updated the term “Initial Offshore Wind Energy Licencing Areas for Consideration” in the final iteration of their work to better communicate the areas it identified are not licencing areas but are a starting point to help inform the selection of licencing areas. Previous iterations of these areas were called Preliminary Offshore Wind Licencing Areas and Draft Offshore Wind Licencing Areas.*Regional Assessment Background: The federal Ministers of Environment and of Natural Resources, and the provincial Ministers of Industry, Energy and Technology, of Environment and Climate Change, and of Intergovernmental Affairs (Ministers) are signatory to the Regional Assessment Agreement. The goal of the Regional Assessment is to provide information to federal and provincial governments to help them plan for offshore wind development in Newfoundland and Labrador, and complete impact assessments of offshore wind projects. Federal and provincial Ministers appointed an independent committee, comprising five members of diverse backgrounds and expertise to conduct the assessment.

This dataset is a combination of landscape unit, biogeoclimatic zone/subzone/variants and Cariboo Chilcotin Land Use Plan (CCLUP) leading group type (PineGroup or FirGroup) used to roll up seral stage assessments in the Cariboo Natural Resource Region. Refer to the **Cariboo Regional Biodiversity Conservation Strategy Update Note #2: Amalgamation of Small NDT-BEC Units in Relation to Assessment of Seral Objectives and Old Growth Management Area Planning** and **Cariboo Regional Biodiversity Conservation Strategy Update Note #3: Definition of the Fir Group and Pine Group for Purposes of Seral Stage Assessments within NDT 4 of the Cariboo-Chilcotin** (see below under "Related Links") for more information on how seral stage assessment amalgamation units are derived.

This dataset is a combination of landscape unit, biogeoclimatic zone/subzone/variants and Cariboo Chilcotin Land Use Plan leading group type (PineGroup or FirGroup) that patch size assessments are carried out on. Refer to the **Cariboo Regional Biodiversity Conservation Strategy Update Note #4: An Approach for Patch Size Assessments in the Cariboo Forest Region** (see below under "Related Links") for more information on how patch size assessment amalgamation units are derived.

RHAs/Health Regions are geographic areas which are used to define populations and catchment areas for the administration and delivery of health services. This file provides RHA boundaries for cartographic and analytical purposes.Within Manitoba there are five Regional Health Authorities (or "RHAs") responsible for the delivery of health services in five specific areas of the province described in the legislation as "health regions." (In practice, the terms "health region" and "RHA" are often used interchangeably to describe these geographic areas.). This file contains boundaries for the health regions for each Regional Health Authority in Manitoba. Fields included (Alias (Field Name): Field description.) RHA Code (RHACODE): Two-digit numeric code which uniquely identifies a specific legislatively defined RHA RHA Name (RHAName): This field contains a simple name for each RHA, suitable for use as a label, in English. Nom de l'office régionale de la santé (RHANomFr): This field contains a simple name for each RHA, suitable for use as a label, in French. RHA Area - total (sq km) (RHAArea): The calculated geodesic area, in square kilometres, of the area within a given RHA's boundaries. RHA Area - excludes major lakes (sq km) (LandArea): The calculated geodesic area, in square kilometres, of the area within a given RHA's boundaries, with the area of major lakes excluded. For population density calculations, we recommend the use of this area value. The following major lakes have been excluded: Lake Winnipeg, Lake Manitoba, Lake Winnipegosis, and Cedar Lake.

PURPOSE:From August 2nd to September 9th, 2013, Fisheries and Oceans Canada conducted a baseline survey of marine fishes and their habitats in the southern Canadian Beaufort Sea and Amundsen Gulf as part of the Beaufort Regional Environmental Assessment (BREA) called the Beaufort Sea Marine Fishes Project (BSMFP). Sampling was conducted from the F/V Frosti at 53 stations along 8 transects. Standardized sampling was conducted using benthic trawling nets. The BSMFP is the first research project to use a large research trawls to assess the biodiversity and abundance of offshore marine fishes in this area. In total, 48 species of fish were caught, one of which was a new occurrence in the Canadian Beaufort Sea, Lycodes lavalaei. DESCRIPTION:Basic biological data for all fish caught during the 2013 BSMFP expedition. Includes identification, weight, length (total, fork, and, standard), liver weight, gonad weight, sex and maturity level. PARAMETERS COLLECTED:familyspeciesweighttotal lengthfork lengthstandard lengthliver weightgonad weightsexmaturitySAMPLING METHODS:Various trawl types.

PURPOSE:From August 1st to September 11th, 2014, Fisheries and Oceans Canada conducted a baseline survey of marine fishes and their habitats in the southern Canadian Beaufort Sea and Amundsen Gulf as part of the Beaufort Regional Environmental Assessment (BREA) called the Beaufort Sea Marine Fishes Project (BSMFP). Sampling was conducted from the F/V Frosti at 54 stations along 14 transects. Standardized sampling was conducted at pre-determined depth stations (20-1500 m) using benthic trawling nets. The BSMFP is the first research project to use large research trawls to assess the biodiversity and abundance of offshore marine fishes in this area. In total, 42 species of fish were caught. This report contains information on fishing net deployments, catch per unit effort (CPUE), and basic biological data for all fishes caught.DESCRIPTION:Basic biological data for all fish caught during the 2014 BSMFP expedition. Includes identification, weight, length (total, fork, and, standard), liver weight, gonad weight, sex and maturity level. PARAMETERS COLLECTED:familyspeciesweighttotal lengthfork lengthstandard lengthliver weightgonad weightsexmaturitySAMPLING METHODS:Various trawl types.

PURPOSE:The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) conducted a baseline survey of biological communities and habitat parameters in the offshore Canadian Beaufort Sea between 2012 and 2014, as part of the federally administered Beaufort Regional Environmental Assessment. The BREA-Marine Fishes Project (BREA-MFP) was the first comprehensive baseline study of offshore marine fish diversity and associated habitats in the Canadian Beaufort Sea. Knowledge gained during the BREA-MFP supports regulatory processes pertaining to offshore development and Oceans Management in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, and provides baseline context for studies of the effects of climate change and variability. The Canadian Beaufort Sea – Marine Ecosystem Assessment (CBS-MEA, 2017-2019 and 2021-2024) is building on system baselines and ecological knowledge derived from the BREA-MFP to develop a comprehensive research and monitoring approach for the offshore Canadian Beaufort Sea. This approach will enable us to better understand the relationship between oceanographic drivers and ecosystem responses. The CBS-MEA focuses on integrating oceanography, food web linkages, physical-biological couplings and spatial and inter-annual variabilities, while also expanding baseline coverage of species diversity, abundances, and habitat associations to areas of the Beaufort Sea and Canadian Archipelago that are previously unstudied in this context.DESCRIPTION:Between 2017 and 2019, and between 2021 and 2024, Fisheries and Oceans Canada conducted a baseline survey of marine fishes and their habitats on the Canadian Beaufort Shelf and slope in August and early September each year. Sampling was conducted from the F/V Frosti at over 150 stations along ten multi-year transects, and over 50 non-transect stations. Standardized sampling was conducted at pre-determined depth stations (20-40, 75, 200, 350, 500, 750, and 1000 m) using a variety of sampling equipment including benthic fishing trawls, plankton nets, sediment cores, and CTD and water sample profiles. Presented here is the information on the sampling locations, and the sampling gear deployed at each station.

In permafrost dominated regions, a gap persists in our understanding of water resources, the influence of groundwater, and the impact of climate change at the regional scale. Regional scale modelling can help to advance the understanding of these impacts by integrating with regional climate models. For regional modelling to be tenable, ongoing development of modelling methods and conceptualizations is required. By developing a fully integrated numerical groundwater-surface water climate model using HydroGeoSphere (HGS) (Aquanty 2021) for a gauged basin within the discontinuous permafrost zone, this dataset allows the verification of existing numerical methods and the testing of various conceptualizations of integrated groundwater-surface water flow in permafrost regions at the regional scale. This work informs future modelling and forecasting of regional water resources in permafrost regimes.

Herring biological (fish and sample) data as part of Herring Stock Assessment database