This report demonstrates how to quantify the benefits and costs of natural infrastructure as a strong complement or a viable alternative to grey infrastructure option for flood mitigation. Natural infrastructure can be a cost-effective way to mitigate material financial losses that would otherwise result from flooding Moreover, natural infrastructure can offer other valuable environmental and […]

Sections PS 1000, PS 1201: Recognition Prohibitions and Urban Forests A summary of a discussion by the Public Sector Accounting Group (of the Public Sector Accounting Board – PSB) on the barriers and opportunities of treating urban trees and forests as municipal assets. (starts on page 15)

This report calculates the natural capital value of forests that are located on properties that are conserved by Nature Conservancy of Canada through the TD Forests program. The report includes two main parts: 1. The first part provides general background on Canada’s forests and approaches to natural capital valuation. 2. The second part presents case […]

This study reviewed Canada’s comprehensive wealth performance over the 33-year period from 1980 to 2013. This timeframe extends well beyond business and political cycles, ensuring that the results reveal trends free from the ebb and flow of markets and policies. Comprehensive wealth focuses on the role of people, the environment and the economy in creating […]

This report provides an estimate of the final ecological services provided by the Greenbelt’s natural capital.

Alternative Land Use Services (ALUS) is a non-profit organization based in Ontario that manages the rehabilitation of ecological services in communities across Canada and participates in the Canadian voluntary compensation market. Due to the challenges of adopting Payments for Ecological Service, AMOVEO, a student organization at the University of Waterloo, partnered with ALUS in 2012 […]

In Canada’s Economic Action Plan, the federal government will invest $16 million in the Great Lakes Nutrient Initiative for a four-year period to address the recurrent toxic and algae issues in Ontario’s Great Lakes. For the Great Lakes Nutrient Initiative, Environment Canada retained Midsummer Analytics to provide insight on the factors and methodologies for evaluating […]

This report by TD economics appraises the value of some of the ecosystem services provided by Toronto’s urban forest. Values are capitalized for the entire urban forest, and per-tree, and also reported as an annual flow for the entire urban forest and per tree and per household. The report concludes that “Urban forests do more […]

The purpose of this report is to conduct an initial baseline estimate of the benefits provided to residents of Aurora from the existing stock of natural capital in the Town. From this baseline analysis, economic costs associated with changes to the features related to natural capital can be factored into future land use decisions and […]

Measuring ecosystem goods and services in Canada presents information on the quantity, quality and value of Canada’s ecosystems and ecosystem goods and services (EGS). The report presents preliminary results achieved through a two-year interdepartmental project to develop experimental ecosystem accounts and the required statistical infrastructure. It provides an overview of ecosystem accounting and valuation, several […]