Environmental monitoring and external exposure to natural radiation in Canada

External sources of radiation originate from cosmic rays and natural radioactive elements, principally 40K and decay products in the uranium and thorium decay series occurring in the ground. People are exposed to terrestrial radiation and cosmic rays everywhere and at all times. To assess Canadians' external exposure to natural radiation, five years (2016–2020) of real-time environment monitoring data recorded by Health Canada's Fixed Point Surveillance (FPS) network were analysed for 36 monitoring stations across Canada. Absorbed dose rates in air from terrestrial radiation vary geographically and seasonally. Absorbed dose rates due to cosmic rays depend strongly on the elevation and vary with solar activities. The population-weighted annual outdoor ambient dose equivalent rates are 20 nSv/h for terrestrial radiation and 52 nSv/h for cosmic rays. Considering that, on average, Canadians spend 89% of their time indoors and 11% of the time outdoors, the population-weighted annual effective doses were calculated as 443 μSv (54 μSv outdoors and 389 μSv indoors), with 20.6% (91 μSv) from terrestrial radiation and 79.4% (352 μSv) from cosmic rays. •Five years (2016–2020) real-time environmental monitoring data from 36 stations in densely-populated areas across Canada were analysed.•Canadian population-weighted annual effective doses were calculated as 54 μSv outdoors and 389 μSv indoors, for a total of 443 μSv.•Terrestrial radiation accounts for 20.6% (91 μSv) and 79.4% (352 μSv) is from cosmic rays.