Activities to Reduce Smog
In Canada, air issues management is a shared responsibility of the Government of Canada and the provinces and territories. In June 2000, these jurisdictions (except for Québec) agreed to a set of Canada-wide Standards (CWSs) for PM and Ozone and agreed to prepare and inform Canadians on implementation plans to reach their goals, by issuing periodic reports (listed below).
The numerical targets and timeframes for the Canada Wide Standards are as follows:
PM: A CWS for PM2.5 of 30 µg/m³, 24-hour averaging time, by 2010. Achievement to be based on the 98th percentile ambient measurement annually, averaged over 3 consecutive years.
Ozone: A CWS for Ozone of 65 ppb, 8-hour averaging time, by 2010. Achievement to be based on the 4th highest measurement annually, averaged over 3 consecutive years.
2001 - Interim Plan 2001 in Particulate Matter and Ozone
In February 2001, the Government of Canada announced a number of measures in the Providing Cleaner Air to Canadians publication of February 2001.
This was followed by the release of the Government of Canada's Interim Plan 2001 on Particulate Matter and Ozone which sets out a series of federal commitmentes,, initiatives and actions under the Canada Wide Standards for PM and Ozone including
- government activities on reducing PM and ozone;
- the science behind policy decisions to protect the health of Canadians from toxic air pollutants;
- clean air activities within government; and the programs to engage Canadians to take action at home and in their communities the first step in a series of federal commitments, initiatives and actions to meet the PM and ozone standards under the Canada-wide Standards.
Clean Air in Canada: 2003 Progress Report on Particulate Matter and Ozone
Since the introduction of the Interim Plan, the Government of Canada has continued to make progress in several areas including
- the transportation sector,
- industrial sectors,
- the National Air Pollution Surveillance (NAPS) Network,
- the National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI),
- partnerships with other jurisdictions, and
- the science for PM and ozone.
In recognition of the critical importance of reducing smog, Canada and the United States signed the Ozone Annex to the Canada-U.S. Air Quality Agreement in December 2000. The measures set out in the Annex are designed to reduce transboundary flows of ozone and bring cleaner air to more than 16 million Canadians in southern Ontario, southern Quebec and Atlantic Canada.
