Open Government Portal

Radiation is energy that comes from a source and travels through material or space. Every day, Canadians come in contact with radiation in both their living and work environments.

Health Canada fact sheet: Radiation is energy that comes from a source and travels through material or space. Every day, Canadians come in contact with radiation in both their living and work environments.

This guide covers basic information on the following: hazards associated with radiation emergencies, radiation health effects, radiation detection and measurement, protection of workers, and management of radiation emergencies in Canada.

Radiation is a part of Canada's environment. We have several measurement programs in place to protect the health of Canadians by continually monitoring natural and man-made radiation levels nationwide.

We are constantly exposed to small amounts of radiation from the environment as we carry out our normal daily activities. Environmental radiation comes from the sky, the earth, and the air we breathe and can be categorized as natural or artificial.

Industrial radiography to date is an established practice that provides benefits concurrent with radiation risks. The radiation protection objective, therefore, is to keep the risks as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA) while maximizing benefits.

This document is one of a series of safety codes prepared by the Bureau of Radiation and Medical Devices to set out requirements for the safe use of radiation-emitting equipment.

The accompanying dataset contains information about lost, stolen and found licensable sealed sources and radiation devices since 2008. Licensees have an obligation to report these occurrences. The dataset was generated by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) from events reported to the CNSC by licensees and members of the public. The same information is used to produce the Reports on Lost or Stolen Sealed Sources and Radiation Devices that is published on the CNSC’s website.

The data represents the annual solar radiation in Alberta over the 30-year period from 1971 to 2000. A 30-year period is use to describe the present climate since it is enough time to filter out short-term fluctuation by is not dominated by any long-term trend in the climate. Daily total incoming solar radiation is measured in megajoules per square metre (MJ/m2). Southern Alberta receives the greatest amount of annual global solar radiation with the amount gradually decreasing as you move farther north.

Diagnostic X-ray imaging is an essential part of present day medical practice. However, mammographic X-ray procedures must be carefully managed, because X-radiation has the potential for damaging healthy cells and tissues, and great care must be taken to obtain optimal image quality for interpretation