Inventory of Federal, Provincial and Territorial Environmental and Occupational Health Data
Sources and Surveillance Activities

Inventory of Data Sources

National Contaminants Information System (NCIS) (Fisheries and Oceans Canada)

Contact
Claude Guay
Marine Environmental Data Service
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Tel: (613) 990-0266
E-mail: guay@meds-sdmm.dfo-mpo.gc.ca

Organization Maintaining the Database
Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Purpose of Database
Secures data on waterborne contaminants for Fisheries and Oceans Canada, in support of the Fisheries Act, the Oceans Act and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency.

Content
Environmental data on water quality (other than drinking water); contaminants in water, sediment, and organisms. Also information on domestic, industrial and farm pesticides. Occupational data on solvents, chemicals, pesticides, heavy metals, and hydrocarbons, as they affect occupational health.

Data elements: analysis method, storage method, treatments, date sampled, area sampled, date analyzed, and the name of the data producer and who took the measurements. The database size is approximately 100 Mo per region (7 regions in all), with about 3 million measurements (with some metadata being considered a measurement). Geolocators: postal code; province; geo-coordinates.

Year Database Established
1995

Coverage Period
1970 to 2000

Data Updates
Irregularly; the database is updated as new information becomes available.

Data Provider
Not specified

Data Availability
Access to the data is restricted; requests for access must be approved by a regional data manager of the Marine Environmental Data Service, Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

Reports
Not specified