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Home / Climate / Developing Ambient Air Quality Objectives For Canada / Ambient Air – Section 1

Ambient Air – Section 1

1 Introduction

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1.1 Purpose of Advisory Note

This Advisory Note represents the second portion of a broader set of advice presented to the government by the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE) pertaining to the development of long-term climate change and clean air strategies for Canada. 2 In the fall of 2006, the federal government asked the NRTEE to provide advice on national ambient air objectives for particulate matter (PM) and ozone for the medium (2020 - 2025) and long term (2050). While this note does not comment in a quantitative sense on the ambient air quality objectives, it does provide observations and insights on the process involved in developing longer term ambient air quality objectives for Canada. After the NRTEE was asked to provide advice on setting ambient air quality objectives, the Government of Canada released its Regulatory Framework for Air Emissions (April 2007). The Regulatory Framework commits Canada to specific short-term actions to achieve reductions of both air pollutant and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. It does not, however, specify medium-or long-term objectives for air pollutants; rather, it indicates the government's intention to set national air quality objectives in the future: "In addition to setting industrial emission targets, the government will set national air quality objectives for particulate matter and ground-level ozone based on an assessment of the health and environmental effects associated with exposure to these air pollutants in the air we breathe in Canada [p. v]." 

1.2 NRTEE's approach to providing this advice

From the outset of its research, the NRTEE concluded that providing advice on specific numerical air quality objectives would require a level of expertise and time commitment beyond the scope and timeline of the government's formal request. The NRTEE therefore concluded that its best value-added advice would be to focus on the purpose of ambient air quality objectives and the process of setting them. The NRTEE research and this Advisory Note have accordingly focused not on recommending specific quantitative standards or objectives, but instead on providing useful information with respect to the process of setting national objectives. This advice is meant to inform the more significant and substantial deliberations of the professionals and experts who will be involved in determining the actual standards and objectives for Canada. This Advisory Note briefly describes the history and current status of Canada's air quality management frameworks, identifies areas for improvement with regard to setting long-term objectives and medium-term standards, and ends with a discussion of the potential roles for governments. It concludes with some observations for consideration by the federal government when developing its approach for future management and regulation of air quality in Canada. In evaluating the government's request, the NRTEE focused on three integrated policy challenges:
  • long-term ambient air quality objectives;
  • medium-term air quality standards; and
  • the role of governments at all levels.
In conducting this research it became clear that the terms "objectives" and "standards" have been used interchangeably to mean different things. For the purposes of clarity in this document, we use:
  • objective to represent a long-term notion or number that will protect human health. This number is based solely on the known scientific effects of a particular pollutant; and
  • standard to represent a pollution concentration that will be enforced by some jurisdiction and is influenced by the practical and economic realities of compliance.
There is also a temporal dimension to these definitions. Whereas objectives refer to the longer term such as 2050, standards are more relevant to the medium-term (such as 2020). Thus one can envision a series of standards that are staged in time to ultimately achieve a longer term, science-based objective. The NRTEE undertook the following process in developing this Advisory Note: 
  • A research agenda was developed and verified with the NRTEE members.
  • An expert advisory group reviewed the main elements of the research agenda and provided guidance.
  • Research was commissioned from experts.
  • The NRTEE engaged the expert advisory group in debating and discussing its research and findings.
  • The final report was reviewed and approved by the NRTEE members.
In terms of research, the NRTEE examined past practices and processes related to the development and implementation of air quality objectives both within Canada and internationally.3 This literature review was then supplemented by a series of lengthy interviews with Canadian and international experts and stakeholders.