441-01696 (Environment)

The Government of Canada is committed to halting and reversing the loss of this country’s rich biodiversity. In support of this commitment, Environment and Climate Change Canada is leading the development of Canada's 2030 National Biodiversity Strategy. The 2030 National Biodiversity Strategy will establish a shared vision for halting and reversing biodiversity loss in Canada, reflect Canada’s domestic priorities for biodiversity conservation and sustainable use, and guide how Canada implements the Global Biodiversity Framework domestically.

The Government of Canada recognizes that the environment and the conservation of biodiversity is a shared responsibility in Canada, and that real progress can only be made if all levels of governments share objectives and work in collaboration to achieve them. 

Species at risk are on the front line of biodiversity loss, and the federal, provincial and territorial governments have been working cooperatively to protect and recover Canada’s imperiled species for close to three decades. The Government of Canada respects provincial and territorial jurisdiction and therefore first looks to them to protect terrestrial species and their habitat as well as migratory birds’ habitat beyond the nest on non-federally administered lands.

The statutory scheme protecting migratory birds under both the Species at Risk Act and the Migratory Birds Convention Act, 1994, respects and supports this reality and achieves two principal goals: (1) it ensures the protection of individuals, nests, and eggs of migratory birds, and (2) it complies with the constitutional division of powers and the principles of subsidiarity and cooperative federalism.

The Species at Risk Act (SARA) is the Government of Canada's key legislative tool to protect and recover endangered and threatened species and their habitats. SARA provides a legal framework for identifying, listing, and managing at-risk species and mandates the development of recovery strategies and action plans, with the goal of preventing species extinction and promoting their recovery. SARA also includes provisions for critical habitat protection. The Act is based on cooperation between federal, provincial, and territorial governments, intending a coordinated effort to safeguard Canada's diverse wildlife and ecosystems, and supports the Government of Canada’s international commitments under the Convention on Biological Diversity.

 The Minister of the Environment is also responsible for the administration of the Migratory Birds Convention Act, 1994 (MBCA), which provides for the protection of migratory birds through the Migratory Birds Regulations, 2022, and the Migratory Birds Sanctuary Regulations. The Act prohibits the hunting, possession, and trade of migratory birds, their nests, and eggs without permits. Regulations under the MBCA provide a framework for species-specific protection, hunting seasons, and to focus conservation efforts.  In 2022, the Migratory Bird Regulations were modernized.  The new Migratory Birds Regulations, 2022, provide protection to migratory bird nests when they are considered to have a high conservation value for migratory birds. The nests of all migratory bird species are protected when they contain a live bird or a viable egg. This supports conservation benefits as the nests of most migratory birds only have conservation value when they are active.  In general, the Regulations grant authority to federal agencies to enforce these laws, ensuring the sustainability of migratory bird populations. The federal government also works with the provincial and territorial governments, Indigenous nations and various partners to protect migratory bird habitat through the work of North American Waterfowl Management Plan Habitat Joint Ventures, the Western Hemispheric Shorebird Network, Important Bird Areas program, and Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas.

As a migratory bird and listed on Schedule 1 of the Species at Risk Act, the marbled murrelet is protected under both SARA and the MBCA. The amended final Recovery Strategy for the Marbled Murrelet in Canada was published on the SAR Public Registry in January 2023. This recovery strategy partially identifies critical habitat for the species in Canada where available information in terrestrial and marine habitats was adequate to do so. There are also three multispecies Action Plans that include Marbled Murrelet for lands and waters administered by the Parks Canada Agency.  In March and December 2022, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada issued protection statements pursuant to subsection 58(5.2)(b) of SARA indicating how the critical habitat of certain migratory birds (including Marbled Murrelet), that is habitat to which the MBCA applies, is legally protected. Nests of migratory birds are legally protected through the following Acts of Parliament and relevant provisions: s.33 of SARA, s.5 of the Migratory Birds Regulations, and s.3(2) of the Migratory Bird Sanctuary Regulations. The protection statement noted that: “For clarity, the language ‘habitat to which that Act [MBCA] applies’ refers to the nest only.” The text of the protection statement can be found on the Species at Risk Public Registry: Protection statement: habitat to which the Migratory Birds Convention Act, 1994 applies for migratory birds listed under the Species at Risk Act

In addition to fulfilling its obligations under SARA and the MBCA for the species, the Government of Canada recognizes that more needs to be done to protect the old-growth forests that support the Marbled Murrelet.

Canada’s forests, and in particular British Columbia’s (B.C.) old-growth forests, are rich with biodiversity and provide important habitat for a range of wildlife. In addition to these habitat functions, forests are key to the health of our climate, influencing rainfall, temperature, and other metrics. Temperate old-growth forests, like those in British Columbia, also function as important carbon reservoirs.

Forest management is the jurisdiction of provincial governments, and the vast majority of Canada's forests are located on provincial and territorial Crown lands. In British Columbia, approximately 96% of forests are on provincial crown land. At the same time, the federal government is committed to supporting the province’s effort to manage and conserve old-growth forests given their significance for migratory birds, species at risk and their role in mitigating the impacts of climate change on forest ecosystems and their associated wildlife.

To demonstrate federal support, the 2022 Federal Budget established a $50 million Old Growth Nature Fund, which will focus on protecting at-risk high productivity old-growth forests that are of prime biodiversity value identified as important for species at risk, migratory birds, climate mitigation and reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. Specifically, federal funding will support planning and collaboration with B.C. and Indigenous communities, and provide incentives for third-party funders, to permanently protect and conserve large areas of at-risk old growth forests in the province. The Old Growth Nature Fund will also contribute directly to the Government of Canada's commitments to achieve Canada’s 2030 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction goal and net-zero GHG emissions by 2050. The old growth temperate rainforests of British Columbia are among the largest natural carbon sinks in the world (on a per hectare basis) and are among the most efficient ecosystems at capturing carbon in Canada. Federal officials are also working with their provincial and Indigenous colleagues and partners to finalize a Tripartite Framework Agreement on Nature Conservation and to explore additional ways to encourage and support the province in its efforts to protect and restore habitat.

The federal government has also contributed to protecting nearly 400,000 hectares of forest habitat in B.C. This includes conservation projects under programs such as the Target 1 Challenge, the Natural Heritage Conservation Program, and the Ecological Gifts Program.

The federal government is also working to ensure forests, including old-growth forests, are considered in the context of ongoing species at risk and nature-related engagement with provincial and territorial partners. For example, Environment and Climate Change Canada, provinces, territories, Indigenous peoples, and stakeholders are engaged in the development of a forest sector action plan that will help guide collaborative efforts to recover species at risk under the Pan Canadian Approach to Species at Risk.