The future of Hydrological and Meteorological services in Canada

This report highlights the essential functions of Canada’s weather service in the context of key trends and considers how the delivery of these functions could be improved. It examines how the Meteorological Service of Canada could support leadership and coordination both at home and abroad and meet evolving user needs through engagement and critical communication strategies and products.

Three trends are changing the way these services are built and delivered:

1. technological advances, particularly artificial intelligence and machine learning;
2. an expanding information environment and global weather enterprise;
3. climate change, which is causing more extreme weather events that threaten the lives and prosperity of Canada and its people.

These trends, coupled with changing geopolitics and financial constraints, underscore the need to strategically transform the Government of Canada’s hydro-meteorological operations to enhance their value by improving efficiency and adaptability.