Data Sources and Methods for the Protected Areas Indicators

Responsibility for source data accuracy and completeness lies with the jurisdictions. The CCEA provides data standards and guidance, including a procedures manual. The reported official area is generally more reliable than the boundary data, and has therefore been used for analysis whenever possible. No account has been taken of overlaps, with the exception of the Quebec protected area analysis. Areas that are no longer protected are not captured in the trend analysis.

The CCEA reports a summary from CARTS, which differs slightly from that reported here. The CCEA uses official areas from each province and territory, and CESI uses official areas from the Atlas of Canada (with the exception of Quebec). The CCEA defines Canada’s marine territory as areas within and including Canada’s Exclusive Economic Zone; CESI uses Canada’s ocean estate. If comparing these websites, care should be taken to note any differences in the date of the underlying data.