Research projects and publications

Identification of key factors and elements favouring the restoration of riparian wetlands and their services in agricultural environments.

Producers and agricultural stakeholders will be better equipped to understand the impacts of climate change on land use and its effects on soil health and vulnerability to degradation.

This project will provide knowledge to better adaptation strategies for production and management to ensure the sustainability of the important aquaculture industry and recreational tourism activities that depend on brook trout.

This project studies the influence of weather conditions on the production, trade and prices of fruits and vegetables in Quebec. It also analyzes household demand for these products and generates projections on future supply and consumption in the context of climate change.

Climate change knows no borders: its international repercussions can be felt even in our own backyard. This project studies transnational climate risks and impacts in Quebec in the food processing and battery industries. 

This project aims to increase understanding of how manufacturing SMEs perceive climate risks and to identify the factors that influence this perception and the way it informs decision-making processes.

The project, consisting of two consultations, has generated an initial assessment of the climate change adaptation needs of Quebec businesses.

The examples and lessons learned from the case studies will help local, provincial/state and federal policy makers in designing effective policy instruments and processes, and in improving existing ones, in such a way that they enable effective adaptation to climate change.

These documented case studies will help to disseminate and transfer information, engage decision makers and better recognize barriers to adaptation within the energy sector in order to overcome them.

This first Canadian portrait of the interactions between GHG mitigation and adaptation to climate change in the field of energy allows to educate policymakers and companies from the electricity sector about the complex interactions between mitigation efforts and adaptation to climate change

This study is particularly useful for energy policymakers concerned with energy production and distribution, including demand management, the upscaling of equipment, and energy efficiency programs allowing to reduce heat gain in buildings in order to mitigate the increase in air conditioning requirements.

The approaches developed will help guide strategy decisions made by industry partners (Hydro-Québec, Manitoba Hydro) and communities in sub-Arctic regions regarding wildfire risk management.

This project will help Canadian electricity providers such as Hydro-Québec, Manitoba Hydro and Ontario Power Generation to improve the long-term planning and reliability of wind power generation.

This approach will allow Canadian hydropower producers to better assess their exposure to persistent droughts while benefiting from a better understanding of the long-term hydrological variability in the production territory.

This project will provide hydropower producers with the robust scientific analyses to guide decision making in regards to climate change adaptations. The results will help determine whether the significance of recently observed floods is part of natural variability or if it is attributable to climate change, in which case, it may be relevant to adjust design criteria and management strategies accordingly.

Any stakeholder interested in hydroelectric asset valuation in the context of climate change now has access to a guide, validated by experts in the field, to help in carrying out rigorous assessments. The methods proposed in the Guidebook and the documented case studies will contribute to improving the consideration of climate change impacts in the valuation of hydroelectric assets.

This project provides a blueprint for Canadian dam managers to include climate change information into flood design values, and proposes solutions to address major sources of uncertainties. It offers a decision-making framework to assess and select adaptation options, mindful of dam managers’ operational context.

The mapping tool and model developed will better equip MFFP fisheries managers to evaluate salmonid habitats quality in Québec’s northern lakes and thereby prioritize actions to adapt their resource management measures according to the response of the fish habitats to climate change, based notably on changes in temperature and dissolved oxygen in the lakes.

The project results will help maintain the ecological integrity of the natural heritage of Northern Quebec by backing decisions and actions regarding land development and conservation in Nunavik with solid science that takes into account the effects of current and long-term climate change.

The results will help guide a sustainable approach to water management that takes into account the effects of climate change. It will also provide water supply managers in participating municipalities with tools for assessing vulnerabilities related to climate change, whether these are due to changes to their surface water withdrawal capacity or to changes in water needs during certain critical periods.

The research results will help to lay the foundations of a new culture of mitigation, adaptation and maritime and port innovation in Québec in the face of climate change by intensifying collaborations with the maritime and port industry.

The project has provided a better understanding of current and future spatial and temporal variability of salinity in the transition zone to help guide stakeholders in making sound decisions.

The knowledge developed by the project has provided riverside municipalities with a better understanding of the processes related to riverbank erosion, allowed them to identify areas that are vulnerable to this hazard, and provided a portrait of the possible evolution of flooding and erosion under climate change.

The exchanges and comparisons between Québec and Mexico will make it possible to conduct a comparative analysis in order to enrich the practices and tools for integrated water management adaptation available to Québec users.

Knowledge of changes in groundwater recharge will enable users to anticipate problems that could have a long-term effect on their water supply (quantity, quality, seasonal forecasts).

The project will make it possible to adapt dam management to climate change and the water needs of local communities.

This project improved adaptive capacity by developing expertise to mitigate permafrost instability under transportation infrastructure.

The availability of more reliable extreme water level statistics will enable designers and engineers to better assess the risks associated with extreme water levels for present and future infrastructure.

The project made municipalities and MRCs more aware of the impacts of certain land use planning and water management decisions. Each participating community has increased its autonomy in dealing with the impacts of the issues to which they are exposed.

The projections from the project serve to identify plausible risks and protect human health and the shellfish industry in the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence.

The main results of this project will be presented to the elected officials and population of the Québec City region to raise awareness about the issue of drinking water availability in a changing climate.

This project produced results that can be used by actors in each sector, as well as by economic, regional, national and international development stakeholders, to inform adaptation efforts.

Once completed, this project will provide a robust research tool for investigating various questions related to hydrology and climate change in Quebec. It will also offer a way for the hydrological modelling community in Quebec to work together and discuss new developments in the field.

This project focused on the modeling of climate change impacts on water resources, specifically in Quebec and Bavaria, which is a growing concern for the scientific community working in the field of water resources.

This project has provided an integrated tool for clearly assessing vulnerability to riverbank erosion and identifying important variables in river dynamics. It has also made it possible to localize areas vulnerable to riverbank adjustments by identifying favourable zones for sediment accumulation in the channel.

Air traffic plays an essential role in the functioning of Nunavik communities, whose infrastructures must be maintained in good operating condition. This study provided a technical description of how permafrost degradation affects these infrastructures.

This project has raised the awareness and responsibility of many Quebec municipalities to issues related to climate risks, in particular the impacts on the built environment and the vulnerability of infrastructures.

This study, carried out as part of the Ouranos consortium’s health program and coordinated by the INSPQ, is part of the water quality component. It focuses on the impact of climate change on precipitation and runoff in urban and rural areas and highlights seasonal differences that may arise.

This project assessed snow cover characteristics and snow physical properties within the CRCM4 Canadian Regional Climate Model in northern Quebec, and helped improving albedo in the Canadian LAnd Surface Scheme (CLASS).

This project allowed examination of cyclone tracks over North America, mainly focusing on those over the east coast and on intraseasonal, interannual and decadal timescales. Moreover, cyclone tracks were simulated by CRCM.

This project involved the development and testing of diagnostic programs for the extraction and analysis of climate data in the Ouranos database. Modifications to the existing programs will enable the processing of data from the new CRCM at 15 km simulations and the North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program simulations.

This project has enabled the optimization of flood and low-water risk management and the development of proactive adaptation strategies.

This project allowed an extensive analysis of extreme precipitation that occurs in the Saint Lawrence River Valley.

The goal of this project is to explore the potential of CMIP5 (Coupled Model Intercomparison Project - Phase 5) data-base for its future use in impact and adaptation studies at Consortium Ouranos.

This project has provided a better understanding of the relationships between atmospheric circulation and the spatial and temporal variability of water inflows in northern Quebec and will thus become a fundamental source for predicting water resources in that area.

Many climate change adaptation and mitigation measures involve changes in land use, including urban planning, agricultural practices, the planting of trees or crops for bioenergy or carbon capture, and the restoration of natural ecosystems.

This project has strengthened collaboration between Quebec and Bavaria in watershed management in a context of climate change.