Politics · Canada · 14 hrs ago
More than half of assessed at-risk species await federal decisions in Canada
A new study found that many wildlife species in Canada are waiting years for federal decisions on whether they will receive legal protection.
Of 288 species assessed as at risk since 2017, 153 were overdue and still awaiting decisions as of Jan.
25, 2025.
The process begins with an assessment by COSEWIC, an independent scientific body, but that assessment does not itself change a species’ legal status.
The federal cabinet makes the final decision on whether to list a species under the Species at Risk Act.
The law recommends timelines for moving assessments forward but sets no legal deadline for one key stage, the study says.
A listing can trigger limits on harming or killing a species and require a recovery strategy that identifies critical habitat where possible.
Caribou, beluga whales and lake sturgeon are among those waiting; the study does not explain why the delays happen.
A study found that 153 of 288 species assessed as at risk since 2017 were overdue for federal listing decisions and still waiting as of Jan. 25, 2025.
Only 17 of the 288 cases reached the federal cabinet, known as the Governor in Council, within the recommended timeline.
The researchers say a gap in the Species at Risk Act leaves no statutory deadline for a key stage of the listing process.
A scientific assessment alone does not change a species’ legal status; federal listing can trigger protections and a recovery plan.
Species waiting for decisions include populations of caribou, beluga whales and lake sturgeon.
- Who
- The study’s researchers examined federal decisions on species assessed as at risk in Canada.
- What
- More than half of the 288 cases were overdue and unresolved, awaiting federal listing decisions.
- When
- The status count was as of Jan. 25, 2025; the study covered assessments since 2017.
- Where
- Canada.
- Why
- The Species at Risk Act has recommended timelines but no statutory deadline for a key stage of the process. The study does not say why the delays happen.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
The government recommended one to two years, and they are consistently failing to meet that
It's preventing these species from going where they need to go to survive
The Saskatchewan-Nelson River population of lake sturgeon was assessed as endangered.
The lake sturgeon assessment missed a recommended federal deadline for moving forward.
A total of 153 of 288 cases were overdue and still awaiting decisions.
- Species assessed since 2017
- 288
- Overdue and unresolved cases
- 153
- Cases reaching the Governor in Council within the recommended timeline
- 17
- Lake sturgeon population
- Saskatchewan-Nelson River
- Lake sturgeon decline
- About 90 per cent since the 1960s
Sources
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