The Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks, Water Management Branch (Water Quality Section) recognizes the need to update water quality guidelines for temperature to protect water uses in British Columbia. Specific water uses include drinking water, recreation and aesthetics, freshwater and marine life, wildlife, agriculture (i.e., irrigation and livestock watering) and industry. To facilitate this need, Aspen Applied Sciences Ltd. was contracted to update the current literature on factors that determine temperature in ambient water and recommend guidelines that provide adequate protection for all beneficial uses. More specifically, the guidance document was to provide numerical values for the protection of aquatic life and other uses that would assist government staff with regulatory functions. To this end, a literature search was conducted on the more recent subject matter and a review completed of temperature guidelines presently in use by other jurisdictions in North America and Europe. With respect to aquatic life, salmonid fishes were selected as sentinel species for which guidelines were developed to safeguard the aquatic environment from the adverse effects of human activities. The document provides general, interim guidelines for the protection of all beneficial uses and recommends future development of water use classifications based on a range of environmental temperature quality that varies with provincial geography. Consistent with the classification system, the development of region-specific temperature guidelines is advocated to reflect differences in environmental conditions throughout the province. Using an ecosystem-based approach, guidelines for the protection of individual water uses within each classification should be developed in support of the minimum temperature requirements of the specific use most sensitive to temperature change. Methods for the derivation of water use classifications are discussed and sampling protocols for temperature monitoring and compliance are recommended.