Library of climate resources

This is a collection of links to climate datasets, tools, guidance and related resources. The sources include the federal government, provincial and territorial governments, national professional organizations, climate consortia and established international organizations. It can be useful for impact, vulnerability and risk assessments, and for adaptation planning.

Refine your search using the search filters. You can also type up to 5 keywords in the search bar.

Explanation of the different resource types
  • data product - downloadable climate dataset
  • tool - builds on a dataset with further analyses and/or visualization
  • guidance - provides direction on the use of climate information or on conducting climate-related assessments
  • codes and standards - guidance and best practice documents for climate resilient design
  • additional resources include educational and awareness-raising material, impact assessments and scientific syntheses

Showing 1 - 10 of 15 results
  • An inventory of historical climate data and climate projections for the Canadian North (Opens in a new Window)

    This collaborative report presents the work done by the Northern Climate Data Working Group Phase I, which was created in December 2020 by the Canadian Centre for Climate Services with researchers and scientists from a wide range of universities and organizations. The report constitutes a large inventory of datasets that can be useful for future development of climate products to support climate-change adaptation decision-making in the Canadian North. Datasets for meteorological, snow, hydrology, sea ice, and permafrost variables were analyzed for the historical period and for future projections. The main information is presented in the form of tables with links to websites and descriptive documents, many of which are attached as annexes. The Phase II of the Working Group has transformed the inventory presented in this report into an online searchable database (https://nordata.physics.utoronto.ca/en/) A PDF copy of this report is available upon request. Please contact Emilia.Diaconescu@ec.gc.ca if interested.
    Organization:
    Government of Canada: Environment and Climate Change Canada, Carleton University, CSA Group, Government of Northwest Territories, Ouranos, University of Calgary, University of Manitoba, University of Northern British Columbia, University of Toronto, University of Victoria, Yukon University Research Centre
    Resource formats:
    • Data files
    • Interactive
    • Scientific synthesis
    • Tool

    Archived Fire Maps (Opens in a new Window)

    The Fire Information database contains current and archived fire information. Current information includes current fire situation and update reports and a forecast fire hazard map. Archived information includes fire hazard maps, historical fire status information, fire status/situation/update reports, and fire status displays. Data are available in tabular, report, and mapped formats.
    Organization:
    Government of Manitoba
    Resource formats:
    • Data files
    • Graphical
    • Mapped

    Canadian Centre for Climate Modelling and Analysis (CCCma) Climate Model data overview (Opens in a new Window)

    Climate model data from a number of climate models developed by the Canadian Centre for Climate Modelling and Analysis (CCCma) are available for download. Climate model output is available for the Fourth Generation Global Climate Model (CanESM2 / CGCM4 ), the Canadian Regional Climate Model (CanRCM4), and the Canadian Middle Atmosphere Model (CMAM). Gridded historical simulations and future projections from these climate models are available for downloading.
    Organization:
    Government of Canada: Environment and Climate Change Canada, Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium
    Resource formats:
    • Data files

    Climate + Weather Tools (Opens in a new Window)

    Scenarios Network for Arctic Planning (SNAP) contains a directory of interactive web tools to help make Arctic climate and weather data more accessible.
    Organization:
    University of Alaska Fairbanks
    Resource formats:
    • Data files
    • Interactive
    • Graphical
    • Mapped
    • Tool
    • Adaptation planning

    Climate Indices (Opens in a new Window)

    Climate Indices includes time series, seasonal, and annual data for a number of variables including sea & air temperature, salinity, runoff, flow, ice coverage, iceberg count, and North Atlantic Oscillation Index. Data are observed or observation-based, and are available in a variety of temporal resolutions and historical periods, depending on the variable of interest. Data are available in tabular and graphical formats.
    Organization:
    Government of Canada: Fisheries and Oceans Canada
    Resource formats:
    • Data files
    • Graphical

    Data at NSIDC (Opens in a new Window)

    Data at National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) is a large repository of datasets that describe historical cryosphere information. Datasets available include temperature, glaciers, ice sheets, permafrost, sea ice, sea moisture, and snow. Historical data are available as point and gridded data.
    Organization:
    National Snow and Ice Data Center
    Resource formats:
    • Data files
    • Mapped

    Engineering Climate Data Sets (Opens in a new Window)

    Engineering Climate Datasets contain: Intensity-Duration-Frequency (IDF) Files, the Canadian Weather Energy and Engineering Datasets (CWEEDS) and the Canadian Weather Year for Energy Calculation (CWEC) dataset. The IDF dataset contains short duration rainfall Intensity-Duration-Frequency (IDF) statistics. Data are presented as tables and graphs for various locations across Canada. CWEEDS provides hourly and long-term weather conditions at monitoring stations across Canada with at least 10 years of records between 1998 and 2014. CWEC datasets contain 12 calculated "Typical Meteorological Months" selected from a 30 years of records, including daily global radiation, dry-bulb temperature, dew-point temperature and wind speed.
    Organization:
    Government of Canada: Environment and Climate Change Canada
    Resource formats:
    • Data files
    • Graphical

    Forest Change Adaptation Tools (Opens in a new Window)

    Forest Change adaptation tools provides information about the impacts of climate change on Canada’s forests and on how to adapt to changing climate conditions. Adaptation tools and resources for forest managers are available here. The tools and resources provided include maps, databases, web applications and synthesis reports. They are grouped under three broad systems: climate, forest and human.
    Organization:
    Government of Canada: Natural Resources Canada
    Resource formats:
    • Data files
    • Interactive
    • Graphical
    • Mapped
    • Tool

    Polar Data Catalogue (Opens in a new Window)

    Polar Data Catalogue is a searchable database that contains metadata and provides access to data and information produced by Arctic and Antarctic researchers. The Polar Data Catalogue (PDC) is one of Canada’s primary online sources for data and information about the Arctic and is Canada's National Antarctica Data Centre. Historical data are available for a variety of spatial types, including point and gridded.
    Organization:
    University of Waterloo, Canadian Cryospheric Information Network, ArcticNet
    Resource formats:
    • Interactive
    • Graphical
    • Mapped

    Regional, national and international climate modeling (Opens in a new Window)

    Regional, national and international climate modeling contains a database of numerous climate variables for Canada and the USA. Historical and future periods are available as modelled point and gridded data. Data are available as 30-year averages (e.g. 1961/90; 1971/2000, etc.), historical month-by-month (from the late 1800s), and daily values (from the 1950s) all for a number of variables, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) climate change scenarios, and climate models. Future time periods include all years to 2100 and 30-year means for 2011-2040, 2041-2070, and 2071-2100.
    Organization:
    Government of Canada: Natural Resources Canada
    Resource formats:
    • Data files
    • Graphical
    • Mapped
    • Tool


As mentioned in the Terms and Conditions of this website, links to websites not under the control of the Government of Canada are offered on an “AS IS” basis and are provided solely for the convenience of our website visitors. The Government of Canada is not responsible for the accuracy, currency or reliability of the content of such websites. The Government of Canada does not offer any guarantee in that regard and is not responsible nor liable for the information found through these links, and does not endorse the sites nor their content. Visitors should also be aware that the information offered by non-Government of Canada sites to which this website links is not subject to the Privacy Act or the Official Languages Act and may not be accessible to persons with disabilities. The information offered may be available only in the language (s) used by the sites in question. With respect to privacy, visitors should research the privacy policies of these non-government websites before providing personal information.

More resources from the Canadian Centre for Climate Services

Date modified: