Where are geothermal resources found?

Near-surface, lower-temperature geothermal resources are found across Canada. In the Toronto area, for example, the subsurface temperature averages about 10° C, and temperatures above 5° C can be found even in Yukon, where geothermal heat pumps have been used successfully. In far northern areas where permafrost is present, temperatures are below 0° C to some depth and then increase with depth; for example, data from the Kugaluk area east of Inuvik, NWT, showed temperatures below 0° for about 100 metres below the surface and then rising to more than 10° at 500 metres.

Most of the accessible high-temperature geothermal resources (hotter than 80° C) are located in British Columbia. However, there are substantial geothermal resources across the country. For example, based on resources between 10° and 60° C, it has been estimated that the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin contains more geothermal energy than the energy in its conventional crude oil and natural gas reserves. A saline aquifer under Regina, Saskatchewan, has a temperature of about 56° C.