The objectives are to measure change in the state of environmental resources attributable to agriculture; assist in tracking the agri-food sector's progress toward environmentally-sustainable agriculture; identify areas at risk; support the design and targeting of agri-environmental strategies, policies and programs; and help integrate environmental considerations into decision-making processes. An Advisory Committee on Agri-Environmental Indicators has been established. The conceptual framework considers agents of change affecting agroecosystems, biophysical agroecosystem resources and provision of societal benefits. AAFC's work on agri-environmental indicators builds on departmental research related to soil health, water quality and other environmental factors important to agriculture. Six indicators have been developed including:

• Farm resources management,
• Soil degradation risk,
• Risk of water contamination,
• Agricultural greenhouse gases,
• Agroecosystem biodiversity, and
• Agricultural production efficiency

Climate Change Calculator
   (Sustainable Development Research Institute)

The Climate Change Calculator is an interactive software tool designed to raise people's awareness of the greenhouse gases they produce through their daily activities and lifestyle choices. The Calculator estimates personal CO2 emissions and has a useful reporting function that shows a graphical emissions breakdown in the form of a "scorecard" which can be accessed at any point in the exercise. The framework applied is based on Pressure State Response.

Criteria and Indicators for the Conservation and
   Sustainable Management of Temperate and Boreal Forests:
   The Montreal Process, Natural Resources Canada
   (Canadian Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada)

The Montreal Process was formed in Geneva, Switzerland, in June 1994 to develop and implement internationally agreed criteria and indicators for the conservation and sustainable management of temperate and boreal forests. The objectives for this initiative are as follows:

• Support the implementation of the UNCED Forest Principles and Agenda 21, as well as the UN conventions on biodiversity, climate change and desertification,
• Further the joint commitment made by tropical timber countries to maintain, or achieve by the year 2000, the sustainable management of their respective forests,
• Provide a common framework for describing, assessing and evaluating a country's progress towards sustainability at the national level,
• Establish an international reference for policy-makers in the formulation of national policies and initiatives,
• Provide a basis for international cooperation aimed at supporting sustainable forest management, and
• Clarify ongoing dialogues related to international trade in products from sustainably managed forests.

• Conservation of biological diversity,
• Maintenance of productive capacity of forest ecosystems,
• Maintenance of forest ecosystem health,
• Conservation of soil and water resources,
• Maintenance of forest contribution to global carbon cycles,
• Maintenance and enhancement of long-term multiple socio-economic benefits to meet the needs of society, and
• Legal, institutional and economic framework for forest conservation and sustainable management.

Federation of Canadian Municipalities Quality of Life Reporting System

The QOL Reporting System has evolved from a desire to bring a community-based perspective to the development of public policy and to monitor the consequences of changing demographics, shifting responsibilities and new fiscal arrangements. By providing a framework to monitor quality of life, the report card is of value to Canadian communities and all orders of government as a tool to: identify and raise awareness of issues affecting quality of life in Canadian communities; strengthen policies and resources aimed at improving quality of life; and establish municipal governments as a strong and legitimate partner in public policy debate in Canada. FCM developed a set of eight indicators of community well-being. These are: community affordability; quality of employment; quality of housing; community health; community safety; community stress; community participation; and population resources.

State of the Environment Infobase

The State of the Environment (SOE) Infobase, administered by the National Indicators and Reporting Office, presents Environment Canada’s work on state of the environment reporting and environmental indicators — designed to translate science and data into information and knowledge that can be used. This site also includes resources for reporting and indicator practitioners.

Statistics Canada Environment Statistics Programme
   (Statistics Canada, National Accounts and Environment Division)

The objective is to develop and publish policy-relevant statistics linking economic activities with sustainable development issues. The focus is on all economic sectors: agriculture, mining, forestry, fishery, hunting and trapping, manufacturing, services, households and governments. The overall framework for developing an indicator set is the Population-Economy Process Framework (PEP), which encompasses more specific frameworks such as the Canadian Environment and Resource Accounts, Materials-Energy Flow Accounts, and Agricultural Practices Impact Model.

A Suggested Framework for Community Discussions
   on Appropriate Sustainable Use/Development Indicators
   (Natural Resources and Environment Branch, Northern Program,
   Department of Indian and Northern Development)

The objective for this initiative is to come up with a framework to facilitate community discussion/consultation on appropriate indicators. Draft indicators, prepared by WWF and National Aboriginal Forestry Association (NAFA), are being used as the basis of this work. The indicators are also framed by nine Branch Principles of Sustainable Development.

Sustainable Community Indicators Software
   (Environment Canada and Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation)

The overall objectives of the Indicators Software are: to help communities select, create, and use indicators for monitoring local sustainability; to promote the use of comparable indicators; and to encourage the sharing of indicators and data, both among municipalities and with other levels of government. An integrated framework whereby indicators are linked by issues, objectives and institutional functions and tagged as condition, stress or response with respect to the main issue. This is a combination of Environment Canada's issue-based condition-stress-response framework and CMHC's quality of life framework. The Sustainability Community Indicators Program aims to help communities measure and monitor environmental health, resource consumption, settlement patterns, human well-being and employment and commerce.