Aquatic ecosystem classification (AEC) for Ontario

The purpose of the aquatic ecosystem classification (AEC) is to provide a universal and consistent spatial framework for Ontario’s flowing waters that captures the general ecological nature of streams and rivers.

​The AEC is a science-based tool that groups and classifies Ontario’s rivers and streams based on their: 

• physical attributes, such as water temperature 
• watershed characteristics, such as upstream drainage area 

The Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) is responsible for sustainably managing and deriving economic benefit from the fisheries and water resources in the ~500,000 km of Ontario’s rivers and streams. 

  The AEC reduces the complexity of these vast aquatic networks using consistent and quantitative methods to build a standardized data foundation that helps MNR staff with landscape level planning and policy development.

 

Supporting Documentation

• Jones et al. 2025 - Interpreting and using the Aquatic Ecosystem Classification V3 – SRB Technical Report 70 (PDF)
• Jones et al. 2025 - Aquatic Ecosystem Classification V3 – SRB Technical Report 69 (PDF)
• Jones and Sutton 2025 - Growing season metrics for rivers and streams - SRB Technical Report 76 (PDF)
• Jones et al. 2024 - Ecological classification flow regimes in Ontario (PDF)
• Sutton et al. 2024 - Stream temperature modelling and classification using climate change projections - SRB Technical Report 62 (PDF)
• Sutton et al. 2024 - Thermal habitat of flowing waters in Ontario (PDF)
• Jones et al. 2021 - Human disturbance gradients for Ontario streams - SRB Technical Report 33 (PDF)
• Jones et al. 2021 - Thermal habitat flowing waters Ontario (PDF)
• Schmidt and Jones 2020 - Reach Affinity Tool (RAFT) (PDF)
• Jones and Schmidt 2019 - AECV1 review and direction forward (PDF)
• Jones and Schmidt 2019 - Understanding thermal habitat in streams (PDF)
• Jones and Schmidt 2017 - Aquatic Ecosystem Classification V1 (PDF)
• Melles et al. 2014 - Heuristic guide to aquatic classification (PDF)
• Melles et al. 2013 - AEC Ontario technical proposal (PDF)
• Melles et al. 2013 - Review and evaluation of AEC worldwide (PDF)
• Melles et al. 2012 - Review of theoretical developments in stream ecology (PDF)
• Melles et al. 2011 - AEC client needs survey response (PDF)
• Jones 2010 - CJFAS Lake outlets (PDF)
• Jones 2010 - CJFAS Lake outlets erratum (PDF)

  AEC Data Packages

• AEC Package 01 - Lake Erie (Geodatabase | Geopackage)
• AEC Package 02 - Lake Ontario (Geodatabase | Geopackage)
• AEC Package 03 - Ottawa / St. Lawrence Rivers (Geodatabase | Geopackage)
• AEC Package 04 - Lake Huron South (Geodatabase | Geopackage)
• AEC Package 05 - Lake Huron North (Geodatabase | Geopackage)
• AEC Package 06 - Lake Superior (Geodatabase | Geopackage)
• AEC Package 07 - Nelson River (Geodatabase | Geopackage)
• AEC Package 08 - Moose River (Geodatabase | Geopackage)
• AEC Package 09 - Albany River (Geodatabase | Geopackage)
• AEC Package 10 - Hudson Bay Coastal (Geodatabase | Geopackage)
• AEC Package 11 - Attawapiskat River (Geodatabase | Geopackage)
• AEC Package 12 - Winisk River (Geodatabase | Geopackage)
• AEC Package 13 - Severn River (Geodatabase | Geopackage)
• AEC Package 14 - Whole Province (Geodatabase | Geopackage)

  Supplementary Data (Note: These packages contain attribute-only data. They need to be joined to the spatial AEC data packages above.)

• Growing season metrics for rivers and streams (Geodatabase | Delimited text)
• Climate change projections for stream temperatures (Geodatabase | Delimited text)
• Ecological classification of flow regimes (Geodatabase | Delimited text)
• Human disturbance gradients in Mixedwood Plains streams (Geodatabase | Delimited text)

  Status Completed: production of the data has been completed   Maintenance and Update Frequency As needed: data is updated as deemed necessary   Contact Aquatic Research and Monitoring Section

• [email protected]

Datasets available for download

This dataset has no data

• AEC
• MNRF
• Ministry of...
• ODCSYNC
• OHN
• OIH
• Provincial...
• Science and Research Branch
• aquatic
• classification
• ecology
• ecosystem
• lotic
• open data
• reach
• river
• segment
• stream

Additional Info

• Maturity Level 1 (62%)
• Maturity Level 2 (69%)
• Maturity Level 3 (44%)
• Maturity Level 4 (10%)
• Maturity Level 5 (0%)
• Maturity Level 6 (0%)

Field	Value
Last Updated	June 17, 2026, 09:17 (UTC)
Created	March 24, 2026, 20:42 (UTC)
Domain / Topic Domain or topic of the dataset being cataloged.
Title Title for the Dataset.	Aquatic ecosystem classification (AEC) for Ontario
Description A description of the dataset.	The purpose of the aquatic ecosystem classification (AEC) is to provide a universal and consistent spatial framework for Ontario’s flowing waters that captures the general ecological nature of streams and rivers. ​The AEC is a science-based tool that groups and classifies Ontario’s rivers and streams based on their:  physical attributes, such as water temperature  watershed characteristics, such as upstream drainage area  The Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) is responsible for sustainably managing and deriving economic benefit from the fisheries and water resources in the ~500,000 km of Ontario’s rivers and streams.    The AEC reduces the complexity of these vast aquatic networks using consistent and quantitative methods to build a standardized data foundation that helps MNR staff with landscape level planning and policy development.   Supporting Documentation Jones et al. 2025 - Interpreting and using the Aquatic Ecosystem Classification V3 – SRB Technical Report 70 (PDF) Jones et al. 2025 - Aquatic Ecosystem Classification V3 – SRB Technical Report 69 (PDF) Jones and Sutton 2025 - Growing season metrics for rivers and streams - SRB Technical Report 76 (PDF) Jones et al. 2024 - Ecological classification flow regimes in Ontario (PDF) Sutton et al. 2024 - Stream temperature modelling and classification using climate change projections - SRB Technical Report 62 (PDF) Sutton et al. 2024 - Thermal habitat of flowing waters in Ontario (PDF) Jones et al. 2021 - Human disturbance gradients for Ontario streams - SRB Technical Report 33 (PDF) Jones et al. 2021 - Thermal habitat flowing waters Ontario (PDF) Schmidt and Jones 2020 - Reach Affinity Tool (RAFT) (PDF) Jones and Schmidt 2019 - AECV1 review and direction forward (PDF) Jones and Schmidt 2019 - Understanding thermal habitat in streams (PDF) Jones and Schmidt 2017 - Aquatic Ecosystem Classification V1 (PDF) Melles et al. 2014 - Heuristic guide to aquatic classification (PDF) Melles et al. 2013 - AEC Ontario technical proposal (PDF) Melles et al. 2013 - Review and evaluation of AEC worldwide (PDF) Melles et al. 2012 - Review of theoretical developments in stream ecology (PDF) Melles et al. 2011 - AEC client needs survey response (PDF) Jones 2010 - CJFAS Lake outlets (PDF) Jones 2010 - CJFAS Lake outlets erratum (PDF)   AEC Data Packages AEC Package 01 - Lake Erie (Geodatabase | Geopackage) AEC Package 02 - Lake Ontario (Geodatabase | Geopackage) AEC Package 03 - Ottawa / St. Lawrence Rivers (Geodatabase | Geopackage) AEC Package 04 - Lake Huron South (Geodatabase | Geopackage) AEC Package 05 - Lake Huron North (Geodatabase | Geopackage) AEC Package 06 - Lake Superior (Geodatabase | Geopackage) AEC Package 07 - Nelson River (Geodatabase | Geopackage) AEC Package 08 - Moose River (Geodatabase | Geopackage) AEC Package 09 - Albany River (Geodatabase | Geopackage) AEC Package 10 - Hudson Bay Coastal (Geodatabase | Geopackage) AEC Package 11 - Attawapiskat River (Geodatabase | Geopackage) AEC Package 12 - Winisk River (Geodatabase | Geopackage) AEC Package 13 - Severn River (Geodatabase | Geopackage) AEC Package 14 - Whole Province (Geodatabase | Geopackage)   Supplementary Data (Note: These packages contain attribute-only data. They need to be joined to the spatial AEC data packages above.) Growing season metrics for rivers and streams (Geodatabase | Delimited text) Climate change projections for stream temperatures (Geodatabase | Delimited text) Ecological classification of flow regimes (Geodatabase | Delimited text) Human disturbance gradients in Mixedwood Plains streams (Geodatabase | Delimited text)   Status Completed: production of the data has been completed   Maintenance and Update Frequency As needed: data is updated as deemed necessary   Contact Aquatic Research and Monitoring Section [email protected]
Tags / Keywords Keywords/tags categorizing the dataset.	AEC MNRF Ministry of... ODCSYNC OHN OIH Provincial... Science and Research Branch aquatic classification ecology ecosystem lotic open data reach river segment stream
Format (CSV, XLS, TXT, PDF, etc) File format of the dataset.
Dataset Size Dataset size in megabytes.	3.42
Metadata Identifier Metadata identifier – can be used as the unique identifier for catalogue entry	76aa2ffb0ae74368b1d245d50726ae24
Published Date Published date of the dataset.	2022-03-11
Time Period Data Span (start date) Start date of the data in the dataset.
Time Period Data Span (end date) End date of time data in the dataset.
GeoSpatial Area Data Span A spatial region or named place the dataset covers.

Field	Value
Access category Type of access granted for the dataset (open, closed, service, etc).	public
License License used to access the dataset.	Open Government Licence – Ontario
Limits on use Limits on use of data.
Location Location of the dataset.	https://ontariogeohub-lio.opendata.arcgis.com/datasets/mnrf::aquatic-ecosystem-classification-aec-for-ontario
Data Service Data service for accessing a dataset.
Owner Owner of the dataset.	[email protected]_mnrf
Contact Point Who to contact regarding access?	Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry
Contact Point Email The email to contact regarding access?	[email protected]
Publisher Publisher of the dataset.	Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry
Publisher Email Email of the publisher.
Author Author of the dataset.	[email protected]_mnrf
Author Email Email of the author.
Accessed At Date the data and metadata was accessed.	2026-06-10

Field	Value
Identifier Unique identifier for the dataset.	76aa2ffb0ae74368b1d245d50726ae24
Language Language(s) of the dataset	English
Link to dataset description A URL to an external document describing the dataset.	https://ontariogeohub-lio.opendata.arcgis.com/datasets/mnrf::aquatic-ecosystem-classification-aec-for-ontario
Persistent Identifier Data is identified by a persistent identifier.
Globally Unique Identifier Data is identified by a persistent and globally unique identifier.
Contains data about individuals Does the data hold data about individuals?
Contains data about identifiable individuals Does the data hold identifiable data about individual?
Contains Indigenous Data Does the data hold data about Indigenous communities?
Portal Type Platform type of the source portal.

Field	Value
Version Version of the datatset	None
Source Source of the dataset.	None
Version notes Version notes about the dataset.
Is version of another dataset Link to dataset that it is a version of.
Other versions Link to datasets that are versions of it.
Provenance Text Provenance Text of the data.	Ontario Ministry of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry
Provenance URL Provenance URL of the data.
Temporal resolution Describes how granular the date/time data in the dataset is.
GeoSpatial resolution in meters Describes how granular (in meters) geospatial data is in the dataset.
GeoSpatial resolution (in regions) Describes how granular (in regions) geospatial data is in the dataset.

Field	Value
Indigenous Community Permission Who holds the Indigenous Community Permission. Who to contact regarding access to a dataset that has data about Indigenous communities.
Community Permission Community permission (who gave permission).
The Indigenous communities the dataset is about Indigenous communities from which data is derived.

Field	Value
Number of data rows If tabular dataset, total number of rows.
Number of data columns If tabular dataset, total number of unique columns.
Number of data cells If tabular dataset, total number of cells with data.
Number of data relations If RDF dataset, total number of triples.
Number of entities If RDF dataset, total number of entities.
Number of data properties If RDF dataset, total number of unique properties used by the triples.
Data quality Describes the quality of the data in the dataset.
Metric for data quality A metric used to measure the quality of the data, such as missing values or invalid formats.

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