Near term priority files: Nature

Species at Risk

Issue

The Minister of Environment is responsible for the overall implementation of the Species at Risk Act (SARA) and for the vast majority of the over 600 species listed on Schedule 1 of the Act.

Background

• The implementation of the SARA through the federal Species at Risk Program is a shared responsibility of Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) and Parks Canada (PCA).
• The Minister of Environment is responsible for the overall implementation of the Act and for the vast majority of the over 600 species listed on Schedule 1 of the Act.
• Once a species has been assessed as being at risk by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC), it triggers a process under the Act consisting of the following steps: listing, recovery planning, protection, and monitoring and reporting. The Act also requires consultation and cooperation with provinces and territories, Indigenous peoples and a broad range of stakeholders throughout the cycle.
• The Minister is required to make decisions at key steps of the SARA process. Most notably at the listing and protection stages of the Act. For listing, and for protection of critical habitat that is not on federal lands, the Minister makes a recommendation to Governor in Council, for its decision. The Minister also reviews and approves certain statutory reports, including progress reports on unprotected portions of critical habitat and the SARA annual report. The Minister can also enter into conservation agreements under the Act with other governments, Indigenous peoples or other partners, to benefit a species at risk or enhance its survival in the wild. In 2019, several agreements with provinces/territories have been developed and ratified to protect boreal caribou, and three draft agreements on the Southern Mountain Caribou in British Columbia and Alberta were consulted upon.
• Several SARA-related decisions are expected to arise in the early days of the mandate.
• ECCC is also facing a number of litigation actions related to species at risk, particularly species on non-federal land.
• The nature of the lawsuits relate to: actions to compel the Minister to recommend emergency measures to protect endangered species, challenging existing protection orders, and seeking compensation for alleged economic losses resulting from emergency protection orders.

Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework

Issue

The global community has begun negotiating a new set of international targets on biodiversity to further expand the global coverage of protected areas, to curb the loss of species, and to reduce the drivers of biodiversity loss and degradation.

Background

• Canada hosts the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Secretariat in Montreal and hosted the April 2019 Nature Champions Summit.
• In 2010 the Parties to the CBD, including Canada, agreed on a 2011-2020 Strategic Plan for Biodiversity, including 20 global targets, called the Aichi Targets. These targets cover topics such as protected areas, managing invasive alien species, and raising public awareness about biodiversity, amongst others.
• The Aichi Targets were to have been met by 2020. While some progress has been made towards meeting many of these global targets, the international community is very far from meeting the 20 targets, and biodiversity loss continues at an alarming rate. Canada is on track to meeting 11 ½ of its 19 targets by 2020 (one target has two components, one of which is on track).
• In November 2018, Parties to the CBD agreed to a 2-year roadmap to develop the new post-2020 global biodiversity framework, including a new set of global targets. Initial negotiations have begun, with key negotiating sessions scheduled for February and July 2020.
• In October 2020, at the CBD 15th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP-15) in Kunming, China, the global community will adopt a new global biodiversity framework, with associated targets. It is anticipated that this new framework will guide global biodiversity conservation and sustainable use efforts over the next 10 years.
• Canada, along with other G7 countries, have agreed to the Metz Charter on Biodiversity, which commits to “accelerate and intensify” efforts to halt biodiversity loss, and “support the development and implementation of a post-2020 global biodiversity framework, which should have a strong level of ambition and practicality”.
• Canada has taken a strong international leadership role on the development of a post-2020 global biodiversity framework. This was recognized as Canada’s Basile van Havre was asked to co-chair (with Uganda) the international negotiation.

Freshwater

Issue

The quality and quantity of freshwater resources in Canada is generally acceptable, though there are pockets of regional challenges and emerging pressures to address, and governance is complex and multi-jurisdictional.

Background

Freshwater in Canada

• Access to clean, fresh water is essential for human health, biodiversity, and the economy.
• Canada has the third largest renewable supply of fresh water in the world — about 7% of global renewable supply. However, a significant amount of Canada’s supply is not easily accessible, as 60% is stored in ice or flows into the Arctic Ocean, away from major population centers.

Jurisdiction and federal role

• Freshwater resource management in Canada is a shared responsibility between federal, provincial and territorial governments. In practice, federal governmental action has mostly been associated with federal lands, fisheries, shipping and navigation, international relations, and interprovincial boundary and transboundary waters. Provinces are responsible for provincial public lands, creation and regulation of municipal governments (including utilities responsibilities for water delivery and treatment), property and civil rights in the province, and matters of a merely local or private nature.
• The Government of Canada undertakes extensive watershed initiatives in collaboration with provincial governments, Indigenous communities and stakeholders. Some examples include management of Canada’s national water quantity monitoring network, transboundary water quantity and quality management, the Great Lakes Protection Initiative, the St. Lawrence Action Plan, and the Lake Winnipeg Basin Program.
  • In 2017, the federal government invested $70.5 million over five years to protect Canada's freshwater resources. This investment is refocusing efforts to reduce the release of toxic chemicals; improve water quality, biodiversity conservation and sustainable use; and enhance collaboration with Indigenous peoples. In 2018, Canada’s national water quantity monitoring service received $89.7 million over five years in support of sustained water monitoring, innovation to identify emerging technologies to strengthen water quantity monitoring and, to develop water prediction services to support emergency preparedness for water-related disasters.
  • The Government of Canada collaborates with the United States on the joint management of boundary and transboundary waters through the International Joint Commission and other bilateral arrangements such as the Canada-US Water Quality Agreement.
  • Environment and Climate Change Canada is the lead federal department on a broad range of water issues. Given its mandate under the Department of the Environment Act; Environment and Climate Change Canada works with over 20 federal departments and agencies who also have responsibilities regarding fresh water. In addition to the Canada Water Act, the Minister of the Environment administers and has responsibilities under over a dozen federal water-related acts.

State of freshwater, emerging pressures, and opportunities

• Freshwater quality is generally good across Canada. The Canadian Environmental Sustainability Indicators (CESI) indicates that the vast majority of Canada’s freshwater quality was rated as excellent and good (41%) or fair (42%) over the 2015-2017 period at monitoring sites across the country. A number of localized issues exist across the country, including contamination and pollution, invasive species, and algal blooms.
• Freshwater quantity is also generally acceptable, though an increasing recurrence of drought and floods events is a cause for concern in different parts of the country. According to CESI, in 2015, 25% of the monitoring stations had a higher-than-normal quantity of water, and 10% had a lower-than-normal quantity, which represented an increase from 2010 (there is limited time series data available).