Canada-wide environmental standards

Canada-wide Standards (CWS) are intergovernmental agreements developed under the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) Canada-wide environmental standards sub-agreement, which operates under the broader CCME Canada-wide accord on environmental harmonization. CWS flow from a political commitment by federal, provincial and territorial Ministers to address key environmental protection and health risk issues that require concerted action across Canada. CWS represent co-operation toward a common goal and involve no delegation of authority by any federal, provincial or territorial Minister of Environment.

CWS can include qualitative or quantitative standards, guidelines, objectives and criteria for protecting the environment and reducing risks to human health. The focus of the Canada-wide environmental standards sub-agreement is on standards that recommend levels or concentrations of substances in the surrounding environment. The levels or concentrations contained in the standards are generally those that provide protection for the environment and human health and are technologically and economically achievable. It is also possible to tailor Canada-wide standards to the specific priorities (for example, standards for products, discharge limits for a substance from a particular source or type of source such as steel-plants, emission reductions). Generally, each standard includes a target, a time frame for achieving the target, a list of governments' initial actions towards achieving the standard, and a protocol for reporting to the public on progress achieved.

While the standards are developed by CCME, the Minister uses s. 9 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA) related to administrative agreements to enter into the commitments accepted by CCME for the substance targeted by the standard.

To date, the following CWS have been adopted by the CCME:

• Benzene (CCME Resources)
  • Canada-wide standards for benzene, Phase 1 (portable document format [PDF], 41 kilobytes [KB], June 2000)
    
  • Canada-wide standards for benzene - Phase 2 (PDF, 35 KB, September 2001)
    • Implementation plan for Canada-wide standards on benzene - Phase 2 (September 2001)
    • Canada-wide standards for benzene 2010 final report (PDF, 124 KB, January 2012)
      
• Dioxins and furans (CCME Resources)
  • Canada-wide standards for dioxins and furans - conical waste combustion of municipal waste (PDF, 23 KB, November 2003)
    
  • Canada-wide standards for dioxins and furans - emissions from iron sintering plants (PDF, 39 KB, November 2003)
    
  • Canada-wide standards for dioxins and furans - emissions from steel manufacturing electric arc furnaces (PDF, 42 KB, March 2003)
    
  • Canada-wide standards for dioxins and furans - emissions from waste incinerators and coastal pulp and paper boilers (PDF, 69 KB, May 2001)
    • Implementation plan for Canada-wide standards on federal incinerators: dioxins/furans and mercury
      
• Mercury (CCME Resources)
  • Canada-wide standards for mercury emissions (PDF, 113 KB, June 2000)
    • Implementation plan for Canada-wide standards on federal incinerators: dioxins/furans and mercury
    • Implementation plan for Canada-wide standards on base metal smelting facilities
      
  • Canada-wide standards for mercury emissions from coal-fired electric power generation plants (PDF, 137 KB, October 2006)
    • Agreement respecting the Canada-wide standard for mercury emissions from coal-fired electric power generation plants (PDF, 504 KB, July 2005)
    • 2010 Progress Report on the Canada-wide standard for mercury emissions from coal-fired electric power generation plants, (available from CCME, in PDF, 208 KB, April 2013)
    • 2012 Progress report on the Canada-wide standards for mercury emissions from coal-fired electric power generation plants, (available from CCME, in PDF, 637 KB, May 2014)
    • 2013/14 Progress Report on the Canada-wide standards for mercury emissions from coal-fired electric power generation plants, (available from CCME, in PDF, 682 KB, May 2014)
      
  • Canada-wide standards for mercury in dental amalgams, (available from CCME, in PDF, 25 KB September 2001)
    • Implementation plan for Canada-wide standards on mercury from dental amalgam wastes
      
  • Canada-wide standards for mercury-containing lamps, (available from CCME, in PDF, 25 KB May 2001)
    • Implementation plan for Canada-wide standards on mercury emissions from fluorescent lamps, (May 2001)
      
• Particulate matter and ground-level ozone (CCME Resources)
  • Canada-wide standards for particulate matter and ozone, (available from CCME, in PDF, 38 KB June 2000)
    • Interim Plan 2001 on Particulate Matter and Ozone
    • Clean air in Canada - 2003 progress report on particulate matter and ozone, in PDF Format, 1.13 megabytes [MB] August 2003)
    • 2010 progress report on the Canada-wide standards for particulate matter and ozone, April 2013 (available from CCME, in PDF, 1.61 MB)
    • 2011 progress report on the Canada-wide standards for particulate matter and ozone, August 2013 (available from CCME, in PDF, 774 KB)
      
• Petroleum hydrocarbons (CCME Resources)
  • Canada-wide standards for petroleum hydrocarbons in soil, May 2001 [Table 1 Revised January 2008] (available from CCME, in PDF Format, 38 KB)
    • Implementation Plan for Canada-Wide Standards (CWS) on Petroleum Hydrocarbons in Soil
    • Spreadsheet model of the Canada-wide standard (CWS) for petroleum hydrocarbons (PHC) in soil (2008) (spread sheet ZIP file)
    • Canada-wide standard (CWS) for petroleum hydrocarbons (PHC) in soil: technical supplement, January 2008 (available from CCME, in PDF Format, 91 KB)