Service standards and performance targets for protected species trade

We issue permits to import and export protected species under the Wild Animal and Plant Protection Regulation of International and Interprovincial Trade Act (WAPPRIITA), and the Wild Animal and Plant Trade Regulations (WAPTR). Our service standards tell you how long it will normally take us to process and respond to your permit application. We base these timelines on our resources and our experience.

Current service standards summary

When you apply for a Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) permit, we give you a decision within the following timelines^{Footnote 1}:

hunting trophy export permit (excluding Polar Bears): 21 calendar days
Polar Bear export permit: 70 calendar days
all other CITES permit types: 35 calendar days

If your application is incomplete, we will notify you and the time limit will be paused until we receive all missing information.

Background and detailed service standards

Service standards are necessary for good client service and important for managing performance because they:

set out expectations (both internally and externally)
drive improvement
contribute to results-based management

Our service standards set the timeframe for the Minister to issue or refuse to issue a permit under the WAPPRIITA and WAPTR. We regularly analyze performance data and review service standards for these permits.

Service standards and performance targets were reviewed in 2025 and no changes were made. The next review of service standards is scheduled for 2028.

Performance targets

We present performance targets in percentages of decisions provided for permit applications within our reporting timeframe (that is from April 1 of a year until March 31 of the following year).

For CITES permits:

2013 to 2014: 80% of decisions made within the service standard
2014 to 2015: 85% of decisions made within the service standard
2015 to 2016 and onward: 90% of decisions made within the service standard

Performance reporting

We measure service performance for permits issued under the WAPPRIITA annually, beginning in reporting timeframe 2013 to 2014, and we post performance information online no later than June 1 for the preceding reporting timeframe.

We met the performance targets for all CITES permits issued in 2024 to 2025.

Statistics relating to processing times for the issuance of these permits are provided in the following table^{Footnote 2}:

Hunting trophy export permits: 1997 permits issued in reporting timeframe from April 2024 to March 2025
Reporting timeframe	Target	Performance
April 2013 to March 2014^a	80% of permits issued within 14 days	49.7% of permits issued within 14 days
April 2014 to March 2015	85% of permits issued within 14 days	96% of permits issued within 14 days
April 2015 to March 2016	90% of permits issued within 14 days	77% of permits issued within 14 days
April 2016 to March 2017	90% of permits issued within 21 days	78% of permits issued within 21 days
April 2017 to March 2018	90% of permits issued within 21 days	90% of permits issued within 21 days
April 2018 to March 2019	90% of permits issued within 21 days	82% of permits issued within 21 days^{Footnote 3}
April 2019 to March 2020	90% of permits issued within 21 days	84% of permits issued within 21 days^{Footnote 4}
April 2020 to March 2021	90% of permits issued within 21 days	62% of permits issued within 21 days^{Footnote 5}
April 2021 to March 2022	90% of permits issued within 21 days	95% of permits issued within 21 days
April 2022 to March 2023	90% of permits issued within 21 days	98% of permits issued within 21 days
April 2023 to March 2024	90% of permits issued within 21 days	92% of permits issued within 21 days
April 2024 to March 2025	90% of permits issued within 21 days	94% of permits issued within 21 days
April 2025 to March 2026	90% of permits issued within 21 days	Performance data to be provided by June 1^st, 2026

Polar Bear export permits: 95 permits issued in reporting timeframe from April 2024 to March 2025
Reporting timeframe	Target	Performance
April 2013 to March 2014^a	80% of permits issued within 80 days	92% of permits issued within 80 days
April 2014 to March 2015	85% of permits issued within 80 days	96% of permits issued within 80 days
April 2015 to March 2016	90% of permits issued within 80 days	97% of permits issued within 80 days
April 2016 to March 2017	90% of permits issued within 70 days	93% of permits issued within 70 days
April 2017 to March 2018	90% of permits issued within 70 days	96% of permits issued within 70 days
April 2018 to March 2019	90% of permits issued within 70 days	99% of permits issued within 70 days
April 2019 to March 2020	90% of permits issued within 70 days	86% of permits issued within 70 days^{Footnote 6}
April 2020 to March 2021	90% of permits issued within 70 days	94% of permits issued within 70 days
April 2021 to March 2022	90% of permits issued within 70 days	99% of permits issued within 70 days
April 2022 to March 2023	90% of permits issued within 70 days	96% of permits issued within 70 days
April 2023 to March 2024	90% of permits issued within 70 days	93% of permits issued within 70 days
April 2024 to March 2025	90% of permits issued within 70 days	96% of permits issued within 70 days
April 2025 to March 2026	90% of permits issued within 70 days	Performance data to be provided by June 1^st, 2026

All other CITES permit types: 4083 permits issued in reporting timeframe from April 2024 to March 2025
Reporting timeframe	Target	Performance
April 2013 to March 2014^a	80% of permits issued within 40 days	91% of permits issued within 40 days
April 2014 to March 2015	85% of permits issued within 40 days	98% of permits issued within 40 days
April 2015 to March 2016	90% of permits issued within 40 days	98% of permits issued within 40 days
April 2016 to March 2017	90% of permits issued within 35 days	96% of permits issued within 35 days
April 2017 to March 2018	90% of permits issued within 35 days	95% of permits issued within 35 days
April 2018 to March 2019	90% of permits issued within 35 days	93% of permits issued within 35 days^{Footnote 7}
April 2019 to March 2020	90% of permits issued within 35 days	88% of permits issued within 35 days^{Footnote 4}
April 2020 to March 2021	90% of permits issued within 35 days	89% of permits issued within 35 days^{Footnote 5}
April 2021 to March 2022	90% of permits issued within 35 days	99% of permits issued within 35 days
April 2022 to March 2023	90% of permits issued within 35 days	97% of permits issued within 35 days
April 2023 to March 2024	90% of permits issued within 35 days	95% of permits issued within 35 days
April 2024 to March 2025	90% of permits issued within 35 days	99% of permits issued within 35 days
April 2025 to March 2026	90% of permits issued within 35 days	Performance data to be provided by June 1^st, 2026

^a Note: the 2013 to 2014 statistics include data for all permits issued during the reporting timeframe (April 2013 to March 2014). However, service standards for all CITES permits came into effect on December 1st 2013 and, for the purposes of these statistics, are being applied retroactively to permits issued between April 2013 and November 2013.

Service feedback

Any feedback on these service standards, or on any issue related to CITES permits, should be directed to cites@ec.gc.ca.

Applying for a permit

Application forms for CITES permits (or request by phone 1-855-869-8670)

For more information

To learn about upcoming or ongoing consultations on proposed federal regulations, visit the Canada Gazette and Consulting with Canadians websites.

Footnotes

Footnote 1

The timeline begins on the date of the notice informing you that we received your application.

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Footnote 2

Please note that the above statistics only represent processing times for permits issued by ECCC and do not include data for permits issued by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada or provincial and territorial partners.

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Footnote 3

Due to an increased volume in applications, as well as capacity changes, the service standard for this permit type was not met this year. The performance of hunting trophy export permits (excluding polar bears) will be improved in future with increased monitoring and tracking of permits, early flagging and addressing of permit issues and by providing additional training and staff support.

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Footnote 4

The increase in the number of permits processed and staffing transitions contributed to not meeting performance targets for hunting trophy and other CITES permits during fiscal year 2019-2020. The performance of hunting trophy export permits (excluding polar bears) and other CITES permits will be improved in future, as additional resources brought in 2019-2020 reach higher efficiency levels.

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Footnote 5

Performance targets could not be met for all CITES permit categories as a result of permitting staff shifting to primarily working remotely due to COVID19 for fiscal year 2020-21. This required alternative permit delivery methods to be designed, tested and implemented. Performance targets were back on track in second half of the year and expect to continue to remain on track next fiscal year.

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Footnote 6

System issues with territorial partners led to long delays in verification for Polar Bear export permits, which contributed to not meeting performance targets for fiscal year 2019-2020. We do not expect this unprecedented situation to affect performance targets moving forward as measures have been put in place by partner governments to safeguard their networks.

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Footnote 7

The increase in the number of permits issued can be attributed to a modest increase in the number of applications and to the new modular approach initiated in January 2019, which had an impact in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2018-2019.

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Date modified:: 2025-05-29

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