Air Quality Index
What is the Air Quality Index?
The Air Quality Index (AQI) is a tool to inform the public of the results
of air pollutant measurements.
The air quality index is monitored on an hourly basis and can be "good",
"acceptable" or "poor", based on
pollutant
measurements. It is calculated and updated every hour, based on
pollutants measured at air quality
monitoring
stations located across the province. The elements used to calculate the index include levels of
ozone, particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and carbon
monoxide.
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Regions of Québec covered by the Air
Quality Index (AQI)S |
The air quality index is presented according to two spatial
representation scales. Regionally, in the case of smog, the index applies
to the same regions as those used by the
Info-Smog forecast program.
Locally, human activities, including industry, automobiles and residential
wood burning, can create a different air quality than the region as a
whole. Therefore, for some sectors, an index with a more local
representation is produced. These sectors are represented on the map by
circles and their colour associated with the index may differ from the
index for the overall region.
AQI values and corresponding warnings, track changes in AQI components
for the current and previous days and some annual statistics are provided
for each region and sector. It is also possible to get the air quality
regional Info-Smog forecast for the evening and the next day from
Environment Canada.
The AQI is produced by the ministère du Développement
durable, de l’Environnement et des Parcs in collaboration with the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux, Environment Canada and the
City of Montréal. Montréal will continue to broadcast the AQI for the
Montréal Island region using the method adopted for the rest of Québec.
How the AQI is
calculated
Annual statistics
Frequently Asked Questions
(French)
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