Highlights

1. Businesses operating in Canada spent $9.1 billion in 2008 to protect the environment, up 5.3% from 2006. Following a long-standing trend, the largest share of these expenditures was spent to deal with pollutants after they were created.
2. The oil and gas extraction industry spent more on environmental protection than any other industry surveyed, followed by the electric power generation, transmission and distribution industry, accounting for 32% and 14% of the total spent respectively.
3. Of the $3.8 billion in capital expenditures made for environmental protection, the majority was for pollution abatement and control (44%), followed by pollution prevention (25%).
4. In 2008, investments in pollution prevention totalled $959 million, down 37% from 2006.
5. Provincially, businesses in Alberta spent the most in capital to protect the environment ($1.7 billion), followed by Ontario ($580 million) and Quebec ($439 million). The large investments in Alberta are mainly due to high expenditures made by the oil and gas extraction industry.
6. Operating expenditures for environmental protection totalled $5.2 billion in 2008, up almost 10% from 2006. These expenditures were mostly directed towards waste management and sewerage services ($1.6 billion) followed by pollution abatement and control ($1.3 billion).
7. Similar to the 2006 results, the oil and gas extraction industry had the highest operating expenditures for 2008, mainly for site reclamation and decommissioning. Provincially, Ontario led the way followed closely by Alberta ($1.6 billion and $1.4 billion respectively).
8. Businesses spent $1.7 billion in 2008 on energy-related processes and technologies, down 15% from 2006. Unlike environmental protection expenditures, these expenditures are not restricted to those made in response to environmental regulations, conventions or voluntary agreements.

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