Recreation

The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River provide a wide variety of activities which engage residents and contribute to local economies and to healthier people. Examples include hiking on waterfront trails, enjoying beaches, visiting maritime museums and interpretive centres, attending music and art festivals, regattas, cruises, and water festivals, as well as environmental forums, workshops and conferences. Activities such as historical re-enactments and tall ships events bring people to the shorelines and share information about their connections to the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River, which are strongly rooted in the past and continue today.

Spiritual

The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River nourish our spirits with spectacular and calming scenery and provide numerous opportunities for all ages to 'step into nature' and replenish our batteries. Visiting shorelines, taking advantage of trails and campsites or just having a quiet cup of coffee while listening to the waves and rustling wildlife remind us of our important connections to our natural world. First Nations maintain a spiritual and cultural relationship with water.

Green Economy

The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River enables Ontario's shift to a greener economy by providing resources that can be used in the development of clean technologies for manufacturing processes, reduced waste, energy production and fuel. Clean technology includes energy efficient practices such as recycling, renewable energy (wind power, solar, biomass, hydropower, biofuels), information technology, green transportation, and electric motors. Clean technologies enable a smaller environmental footprint, minimizing waste and pollution. A developing green economy creates new jobs, helping to attract a highly skilled and educated workforce.

Fish

The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River boast more than 150 species of freshwater fishes. Each Lake within the system has a unique set of conditions, such as depth and temperature, which support different fish communities. Many fish species are able to survive in all the Great Lakes year round, while other fish may only be found in certain Lakes or in Lakes at certain times of the year. For example, the waters of Lakes Superior support pygmy whitefish a type of fish that prefers the deep, cold water. The warm waters of Lake Erie and Ontario support white perch, a species that isn't found in the colder upper lakes. Yellow perch, walleye and lake herring are examples of fishes found in all 5 Great Lakes.

The diversity and number of fish in the Great Lakes draws in recreational fisherman and sustains an important commercial fishery, considered to be one of the largest freshwater fisheries in the world. The sports fishery, which relies on fish like steelhead, walleye, lake trout and yellow perch, contributes $234 million to Ontario's economy every year. Healthy populations of lake whitefish, smelt, walleye and perch support the commercial fishing industry. Fish are the main food source for bald eagles, snapping turtles and great blue herons.

Migration Route

The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River region is critically important for all groups of migratory birds and insects, whether they're nesting or simply stopping by on their way through. Millions of waterfowl, shorebirds, wading birds, song birds, and raptors utilize the area's varied habits that provide an assortment of food, cover and roosting areas. Migratory birds, including landbirds, shorebirds, and waterfowl, are most concentrated at food rich sites close to Great Lakes shorelines.

As well, each autumn, Point Pelee National Park is a temporary home to thousands of migrating monarch butterflies. Point Pelee's shape funnels the monarchs to the tip. If the weather is cold, they will roost in trees and wait for warmer temperatures and favourable winds to cross the lake. If the weather is warm, they will often go directly across the lake without stopping in the park.

Great Lakes Migratory Bird Stopover

Tips to watch the Pt. Pelee Monarch Migration

Source: http://monarch.pwnet.org/mom/monarch_in_canada.php

Habitats

The shorelines and nearshore areas of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River provide numerous natural areas called habitats important for fish, birds, insects, wildlife, and for our own health. They can be found in wetlands, at the mouths and along rivers, ravines, valley streams, woodlands, parks and along shorelines. They include some of our most unique natural heritage features such as fragile alvars, tallgrass prairie meadows and oak savannah. Habitats help us to adapt to climate change and improve water quality in rivers, streams, and along shorelines as well as prevent flooding and erosion. These important natural areas and features even protect our own health and wellbeing by providing shade and regulating heat and reduce smog and pollution by filtering out many airborne pollutants linked to heart disease, respiratory illnesses, diabetes, and cancer.

Food

The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River support a thriving agricultural industry which puts food on the tables of Ontarians. It contains over 90% of all the agricultural land in Province and this prime agricultural land supports the most diverse agricultural industry in Canada, with over 200 different commodities being produced for both domestic consumption and export. This sector accounts for the largest share of the total Canadian GDP in agriculture and food processing – approximately 33%.

Healthy water, land and air are the cornerstones of healthy and thriving farms. The rich soil and freshwater coupled with insect and plant biodiversity, and moderating climate impacts from the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River enable a healthy and important agricultural industry in Ontario. The long growing season, with a late fall frost caused by these large bodies of water contributes to making many of Ontario's Great Lakes watersheds the ideal location for agricultural activities. Farmers use the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River as a source of drinking water for livestock, to clean farm equipment, to support aquaculture operations and to irrigate crops. They are able to produce a wide variety of food such as grains, vegetables, fruits, dairy products, and meat. Specialty crops such as mushrooms, grapes, maple syrup, and garden plants are also produced in Ontario.

Energy

The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River provide hydroelectricity to heat and power Ontario businesses and homes through more than 65 hydroelectric stations on 24 rivers which feed into the Great Lakes. Over 80% of the hydropower generated in Ontario is dependent on the Great Lakes. The water in the Great Lakes can also be used to help reduce energy needs. For example, Enwave's Deep Lake Water Cooling system, uses the cold water found in Lake Ontario to cool buildings in downtown Toronto. This cooling system reduces energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions that would be produced if these buildings were cooled using traditional air-conditioning.

Cultural

The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River have always been central to the development of Ontario and its people from when First Nations originally inhabited the regions to the development of shipping, manufacturing, and tourism opportunities that still exist today. The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River were drivers of economic and social prosperity for the early immigrants to Ontario . They were also the site of many battles during the War of 1812. Today, they provide a wide variety of benefits and cultural activities which continue to engage residents and contribute to local economies and to healthier people. Examples include waterfront trails, music and art festivals, regattas, cruises, maritime museums, interpretive centres, water festivals, as well as environmental forums, workshops and conferences. Activities such as historical re-enactments and tall ships events bring people to the shorelines and share information about their connections to the Great Lakes - St. Lawrence River, which are strongly rooted in the past and continue today.

The Great Lakes Basin is an historic location where Métis identity emerged in Ontario.

Economic

The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River have always been at the heart of Ontario's economy. They provide numerous jobs and other economic benefits around transportation (shipping), commercial and sport fishing, food processing, recreation, science and engineering. For example, the food and beverage processing industry is Ontario's second largest manufacturing sector in terms of employment and the Greater Toronto Area is one of the top three food processing clusters in North America.

In addition to contributing to economic revenues by supporting industries, jobs and economic activity, Great Lakes' ecosystems such as wetlands, forests and other habitats help to prevent or reduce economic costs that communities can incur from flooding and erosion, water treatment, and climate change impacts. Wetlands and forests help to filter pollution and regulate fluctuating water levels and runoff, as well as absorb carbon emissions and cool the atmosphere, helping to reduce the impacts of climate change and extreme weather.

Drinking Water

The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River act as important source of freshwater for everyday activities and contain about 20% of all the freshwater on earth. More than 80% of people living in Ontario rely on the Great Lakes as a source of drinking water.

Wetlands

Wetlands provide multiple ecological, economic and social benefits to us. Wetlands improve water quality flowing into the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River. Plants and soils filter sediment, nutrients and pollutants such as pesticides, and absorb phosphorus from wastewater effluent and agricultural or urban runoff. Wetlands can transform many pollutants, including suspended solids, into harmless byproducts. Wetlands also provide economic benefits through activities such as hunting, fishing, and tourism.

Climate Change Adaptation

The Great Lakes help us to adapt to the increasing impacts of climate change which include warmer air and water temperatures, and unpredictable and more extreme weather patterns which create drought, flooding, and heat waves. All of these impacts can be costly resulting in disruptions to shipping and industry, crop failure, increased energy needs, and, most important, threats to public health particularly to younger or elderly people.

The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River moderate Ontario's climate helping us to stay cooler in the summer and warmer as we head into the winter season which helps to extend the agricultural growing season. Coastal wetlands absorb excess water flow from heavy rains or snowmelt, store it and then slowly release it over time during drier periods. Wetlands help to reduce the impacts of flooding.

Green Space

Green space such as conservation areas, parks, and reserves help to protect important forests, wetlands, valley lands and other natural areas that provide important ecological benefits. They help to ensure a rich mix of biodiversity, protecting many unique features and important ecosystems such as waterways; and they provide recreational opportunities. Connected green spaces also act as corridors enabling wildlife to move around and find food. These areas are well used by conservationists, local community residents, researchers, and others.

Ecosystem Goods & Services

Our natural ecosystems are made up of forests, wetlands, water sources, plants and animals that provide multiple goods and services contributing to a healthy economy, environment and people.

Every day, we rely on ecosystems goods and services. Ecosystems provide us with services such as clean water, food and fuel and they help us to adapt to climate change impacts. Economically, our environment helps to produce energy, supplies water to households, industry, and individual contributes to tourism, timber, fisheries and recreation sectors, provides food and much, much more.

Public Health

Healthy ecosystems such as forests, wetlands, lakes, rivers and green spaces provide safe water resources, healthy food, clean air, a cooler environment, and opportunities for more physical activities such as swimming, skating, snowshoeing, waterfront cycling and hiking, canoeing and camping in parks and conservation areas which contribute to both healthier bodies and minds.

The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River recycle and purify the water we drink, absorb the waste we produce, provide us with food, fuel and shelter, moderate our climate, nurture our bodies and feed our spirits with their natural beauty.