National Defence — federal contaminated sites

National Defence is custodian of 9,047 sites in Canada's Federal Contaminated Sites Inventory — 37% of the 24,426 sites nationwide. 1,171 are active, 7,720 are closed, and 156 are suspected. Reported federal expenditure on these sites totals $1.63B (15% of the national total), an average of $180K per site.

Open these sites on the interactive map

Status and priority

Reported expenditure by fiscal year

Where National Defence sites are located

Most common contaminant types

• Metal, metalloid, and organometallic2,907 · 32%
• PHCs (petroleum hydrocarbons)1,488 · 16%
• PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon)730 · 8.1%
• BTEXs (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene)343 · 3.8%
• Other inorganics205 · 2.3%
• Other organics185 · 2.0%
• PCBs (Polychlorinated Biphenyl) and PCDD/Fs (polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin/dibenzofuran)174 · 1.9%
• Other Physical/Chemical (pH, temperature, dissolved solids, turbidity, etc.)171 · 1.9%
• Energetics137 · 1.5%
• Halogenated Hydrocarbon63 · 0.7%

Most affected media

• Soil3,403 · 38%
• Groundwater1,072 · 12%
• Surface soil446 · 4.9%
• Surface water340 · 3.8%
• Sediment311 · 3.4%
• Other medium41 · 0.5%
• Air40 · 0.4%
• Not Available35 · 0.4%

Largest sites by reported expenditure

Municipalities with the most sites

Halifax (367) · Region 2, Unorganized (260) · Region 4, Unorganized (225) · Region 1, Unorganized (203) · Kenora, Unorganized (166) · The Archipelago (139) · Kitikmeot, Unorganized (113) · Oromocto (101) · Killarney (100) · Qikiqtaaluk, Unorganized (95) · Georgian Bay (82) · Saint-Gabriel-de-Valcartier (81) · Strathcona A (78) · Division No. 19, Unorganized (76) · Essa (75) · Colwood (72) · Esquimalt (68) · Cape Breton (66) · Thunder Bay, Unorganized (65) · Southern Gulf Islands (64)

Figures are computed from the official FCSI open-data export published September 7, 2026, under the Open Government Licence – Canada. This is an unofficial site — verify against the official inventory before relying on details.