Accelerated water loss over Canada’s landmass in 2002–2024

Terrestrial water storage (TWS) changes significantly influence the global water cycle and the development of better-informed water policies. Here we investigate TWS variations across Canada’s landmass using the GRACE and GRACE-FO satellites observations. We show that Canada’s TWS exhibited an accelerated downward trend in 2002–2024, resulting in a total water loss of 2430 km ³ that corresponds to a global sea-level rise of 6.9 mm. The loss was mainly driven by glacier and snow melt over the Pacific Cordillera and the Arctic Cordillera, as well as permafrost degradation in central Canada. For ice-free regions, the dry areas became drier, and the wet areas became wetter. For ice-covered regions, the water loss rate accelerated over the Pacific Cordillera but slowed down over the Arctic Cordillera and the permafrost regions. As water fluxes accelerate in a warming climate, it is expected that future TWS trends may experience further changes.