Threatened and Endangered Species

Species at Risk Act

“Canada is failing to fulfill its duty of care toward
our nation’s wildlife.”
~Julie Gelfand, Nature Canada President


When Canada enacted the federal Species at Risk Act (SARA) in June 2003 to address the mounting threats to Canada’s endangered species, it was an important day for wildlife protection in North America.

However, key weaknesses in the Act, exacerbated by shallow federal implementation, have reduced the Act’s effectiveness in the following four ways.

1. The legal species at risk list grows more political and less scientific each year. The federal government has delayed listing decisions, imposed cost-benefit analyses on what should be science-based judgments, and refused to list several endangered species due to potential socio-economic consequences.

2. Protection of critical habitat under SARA is too limited and too late. Despite rhetoric about “safety nets”, the federal government has refused to issue emergency orders to protect critical habitat on non-federal lands. And while SARA habitat protections are not required until recovery strategies or action plans are complete, the government has allowed nine of 16 strategies due January 2006 to remain overdue.

3. The federal government has failed to meet the Act’s requirements to maintain a comprehensive public registry. SARA’s public registry is outdated, confusing, and lacks critical documents required by law. This important tool simply does not provide the public with easy access to information.

4. Stewardship has been left the greatest burden for saving species without a corresponding increase in funding. Stewardship has become the federal answer to recovering species on non-federal lands. So much is expected of voluntary stewardship, yet not enough is done to mobilize and fund potential stewards.


Nature Canada has called on the federal government to choose recovery over extinction for our species at risk. Decisive implementation of the Act is required to ensure Canada’s species receive the protection they deserve.

Nature Canada has offered four recommendations the federal government can act on to realize the full potential of this important legislation.

Related Links

Species at Risk Act - Three Years Later

La loi sur les espèces en péril - Trois ans plus tard