{
  "id": "air-quality-pm25",
  "category": "Environment",
  "title": "Fine particle air pollution (PM2.5), Victoria",
  "geography": "Victoria Topaz air monitoring station (Province of B.C.)",
  "scope": "city",
  "levels": [
    "Provincial (air quality)",
    "Federal (national standards)",
    "Households and businesses"
  ],
  "plain_question": "How much fine particle pollution is in Victoria’s air over a year, compared with the national standard?",
  "value": 6.1,
  "display_value": "6.1",
  "unit": "µg/m³, annual metric, 2022–2024",
  "period": "2022–2024 (three-year average)",
  "period_start": "2022-01-01",
  "period_end": "2024-12-31",
  "comparison": {
    "previous_period": "2021–2023",
    "previous_value": 6.5,
    "change_percent": -6.2
  },
  "trend": "improving",
  "direction_good": "down",
  "right_direction": "Lower levels mean cleaner air.",
  "trend_basis": "6.1 µg/m³ for 2022–2024 against 6.5 for 2021–2023 (annual metric: three-year average of each year’s mean). The national standard is 8.8 or lower (status: Achieved). 24-hour metric: 14 against a standard of 27.",
  "since_text": "National standard 8.8 µg/m³ (8.0 from the 2027-2030 period). 24-hour metric 14 (standard 27).",
  "caveats": [
    "The annual metric is the average, over three years, of each year’s mean concentration of fine particles (PM2.5) at the station, as the Province calculates it for the Canadian Ambient Air Quality Standards.",
    "These are the ambient values, including days with wildfire smoke. The Province also publishes values with smoke days removed, used for air zone management.",
    "One station: Victoria Topaz. A stricter standard (8.0 µg/m³ annual, 23 for 24 hours) applies from the 2027-2030 reporting period."
  ],
  "charts": [
    {
      "title": "Fine particles, annual metric (three-year average), Victoria Topaz",
      "fmt": "dec1",
      "unit": "µg/m³",
      "lines": [
        {
          "name": "Victoria Topaz",
          "area": "topaz",
          "series": [
            {
              "period": "2013",
              "value": 6.9
            },
            {
              "period": "2014",
              "value": 6.4
            },
            {
              "period": "2015",
              "value": 6.5
            },
            {
              "period": "2016",
              "value": 5.5
            },
            {
              "period": "2017",
              "value": 5.8
            },
            {
              "period": "2018",
              "value": 6.7
            },
            {
              "period": "2019",
              "value": 7.7
            },
            {
              "period": "2020",
              "value": 7.9
            },
            {
              "period": "2021",
              "value": 7.1
            },
            {
              "period": "2022",
              "value": 7.0
            },
            {
              "period": "2023",
              "value": 6.5
            },
            {
              "period": "2024",
              "value": 6.1
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "refs": [
        {
          "key": "caaqs",
          "style": "standard",
          "label": "Canadian Ambient Air Quality Standard for fine particles, annual metric (national standard, applied by the Province)",
          "short": "National standard",
          "area": "Any air zone in Canada",
          "source": "Province of B.C., Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5) indicator, Environmental Reporting BC (updated June 2026)",
          "url": "https://www.env.gov.bc.ca/soe/indicators/air/fine-pm.html",
          "steps": [
            {
              "start": "2020-01-01",
              "end": "2026-12-31",
              "value": 8.8
            },
            {
              "start": "2027-01-01",
              "end": null,
              "value": 8.0
            }
          ],
          "end": "Standard: 8.8"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "series": [
    {
      "period": "2013",
      "value": 6.9
    },
    {
      "period": "2014",
      "value": 6.4
    },
    {
      "period": "2015",
      "value": 6.5
    },
    {
      "period": "2016",
      "value": 5.5
    },
    {
      "period": "2017",
      "value": 5.8
    },
    {
      "period": "2018",
      "value": 6.7
    },
    {
      "period": "2019",
      "value": 7.7
    },
    {
      "period": "2020",
      "value": 7.9
    },
    {
      "period": "2021",
      "value": 7.1
    },
    {
      "period": "2022",
      "value": 7.0
    },
    {
      "period": "2023",
      "value": 6.5
    },
    {
      "period": "2024",
      "value": 6.1
    }
  ],
  "series_note": "Each point is the three-year period ending that year",
  "source": {
    "name": "Province of B.C., Indicator Summary Data: BC Fine Particulate Matter Canadian Ambient Air Quality Standards",
    "url": "https://catalogue.data.gov.bc.ca/dataset/699be99e-a9ba-403e-b0fe-3d13f84f45ab/resource/bfa3fdd8-2950-4d3a-b190-52fb39a5ffd4/download/pm25_stations_summary.csv",
    "dataset_url": "https://catalogue.data.gov.bc.ca/dataset/indicator-summary-data-bc-fine-particulate-matter-canadian-ambient-air-quality-standards",
    "download_url": "https://catalogue.data.gov.bc.ca/dataset/699be99e-a9ba-403e-b0fe-3d13f84f45ab/resource/bfa3fdd8-2950-4d3a-b190-52fb39a5ffd4/download/pm25_stations_summary.csv",
    "publisher_page": "https://www.env.gov.bc.ca/soe/indicators/air/fine-pm.html",
    "locator": "pm25_stations_summary.csv: station_name “Victoria Topaz”, metric “pm2.5_annual”, caaqs_year 2024, column metric_value_ambient",
    "reads": "caaqs_year 2024 (2022–2024): 6.1, Achieved; 2023: 6.5"
  },
  "licence": {
    "name": "Open Government Licence - British Columbia",
    "url": "https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content?id=A519A56BC2BF44E4A008B33FCF527F61"
  },
  "attribution": "Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – British Columbia.",
  "refresh_frequency": "Yearly (Province of B.C. environmental reporting)",
  "data_published": "2026-06-18",
  "retrieved_at": "2026-11-13T05:30:43Z",
  "standards_text": "achieved when annual metrics are 8.8 micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m 3 ) or lower, and the 24-hour metrics are 27 µg/m 3 or lower. More stringent 2030 CAAQS for PM 2.5 apply in the 2027-2030 reporting period, with an annual metric of 8.0 µg/m 3 and 24-hour metric of 23 µg/m 3",
  "standard": {
    "annual": 8.8,
    "annual_next": 8.0,
    "next_period": "2027-2030"
  },
  "licence_type": "open",
  "source_tier": 1,
  "measure_kind": "outcome",
  "better_measure": null,
  "status_rule": {
    "rule": "One rule for every measure: a change smaller than 5% of the earlier value, or smaller than the agency's own margin of error, is “About the same”; no change is calculated across a marked break in a series; homelessness estimates, prices, staffing and comparison pages are shown for context without a label.",
    "reason": "The change is 6.2% of the earlier value, at or above the 5% threshold.",
    "threshold_percent": 5.0
  },
  "changes": {
    "year": {
      "period": "2021–2023",
      "value": 6.5,
      "text": "vs 2021–2023: -6.2%"
    },
    "five_year": {
      "period": "2019",
      "years": 3,
      "value": 7.7,
      "comparable": true,
      "text": "vs 2019: −20.8%"
    }
  },
  "direction": {
    "type": "outcome",
    "rule": "Outcome measures read Better, Worse or About the same; published government targets read Ahead of, On or Behind target; value-judgement measures read Rising, Falling or Steady in a neutral colour. A change smaller than the agency's own margin of error, or otherwise smaller than 5% of the earlier value, is About the same (or Steady). No change is calculated across a marked break in a series.",
    "key": "better",
    "label": "Better",
    "arrow": "▼",
    "rel": -6.2,
    "delta": null,
    "vs": "2021–2023",
    "cur": "2022–2024 (three-year average)",
    "why": "The change is 6.2% of the earlier value, at or above the 5% threshold.",
    "change": "6.2%",
    "one_year": "−6.2%",
    "five": {
      "period": "2019",
      "comparable": true,
      "rel": -20.779220779220786,
      "text": "−20.8%",
      "years": 3
    }
  },
  "benchmark": {
    "rung": 3,
    "rung_name": "Professional standard or official estimate, not a government commitment",
    "as_of": "2026-11-12",
    "items": [
      {
        "kind": "standard",
        "label": "Professional standard, not a government commitment",
        "text": "Standard: the Canadian Ambient Air Quality Standards are achieved when the annual metric is 8.8 µg/m³ or lower. A stricter 2030 standard, 8.0 µg/m³, applies from the 2027 to 2030 reporting period. The standards are set nationally and the Province reports each station against them.",
        "area": "Any air zone in Canada",
        "source": {
          "title": "Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5) indicator, Environmental Reporting BC",
          "publisher": "Province of B.C.",
          "date": "updated June 2026",
          "url": "https://www.env.gov.bc.ca/soe/indicators/air/fine-pm.html",
          "terms": "https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/home/copyright",
          "refresh": "Yearly",
          "licence": "Public document, not under an open licence. Quoted with attribution.",
          "checked": "2026-11-12",
          "key": "caaqs_pm"
        },
        "documents_checked": null
      }
    ],
    "drawn": [
      "Canadian Ambient Air Quality Standard for fine particles, annual metric (national standard, applied by the Province)"
    ],
    "rule": "Highest rung found is shown; the site never sets a target. Methods, Targets."
  },
  "benchmarks": [
    {
      "rung": 3,
      "kind": "standard",
      "label": "Canadian Ambient Air Quality Standard for fine particles, annual metric (national standard, applied by the Province)",
      "short": "Standard: 8.8",
      "unit": "µg/m³",
      "set_by": null,
      "instrument": "standard",
      "document": "caaqs_pm",
      "page": null,
      "area": "Any air zone in Canada",
      "fit": "full",
      "same_area": false,
      "polarity": "lower_is_better",
      "chart": 0,
      "value": 8.8,
      "applies_from": "2020-01-01",
      "applies_to": "2026-12-31",
      "path": false,
      "document_url": "https://www.env.gov.bc.ca/soe/indicators/air/fine-pm.html",
      "applies_here": true,
      "same_measure": true
    },
    {
      "rung": 3,
      "kind": "standard",
      "label": "Canadian Ambient Air Quality Standard for fine particles, annual metric (national standard, applied by the Province)",
      "short": "Standard: 8.8",
      "unit": "µg/m³",
      "set_by": null,
      "instrument": "standard",
      "document": "caaqs_pm",
      "page": null,
      "area": "Any air zone in Canada",
      "fit": "full",
      "same_area": false,
      "polarity": "lower_is_better",
      "chart": 0,
      "value": 8.0,
      "applies_from": "2027-01-01",
      "applies_to": null,
      "path": false,
      "document_url": "https://www.env.gov.bc.ca/soe/indicators/air/fine-pm.html",
      "applies_here": true,
      "same_measure": true
    }
  ],
  "highest_rung": 3,
  "decided_by": [
    {
      "body": "BC",
      "name": "Province of B.C.",
      "decides": "Prohibits putting waste into the environment in a way that causes pollution, and permits industrial emissions.",
      "laws": [
        {
          "key": "ema6",
          "label": "Environmental Management Act, s. 6 (4)",
          "url": "https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/03053_02#section6"
        }
      ],
      "last": null,
      "next": null
    },
    {
      "body": "NONE",
      "name": "No government decides this directly",
      "note": "Wildfire smoke, traffic and wood heating also decide it."
    }
  ],
  "main_decision_maker": "Province of B.C.",
  "label_1y": {
    "key": "better",
    "label": "Better"
  },
  "label_long": {
    "key": "better",
    "label": "Better",
    "years": 3,
    "change": "−20.8%"
  },
  "target_line": {
    "form": 2,
    "text": "Standard 8.8 · 2.7 under",
    "target": 8.8,
    "gap": "2.7 under",
    "comparison": null,
    "applies_here": true,
    "note": null
  }
}