Regulations Amending the Wildlife Area Regulations and the Environmental Violations Administrative Monetary Penalties Regulations– Designation of Country Island, Isle Haute and St. Paul Island National Wildlife Areas

Key findings from the strategic environmental and economic assessment (SEEA) conducted in respect of the amendments to the Regulations Amending the Wildlife Area Regulations and the Environmental Violations Administrative Monetary Penalties Regulations – Designation of Country Island, Isle Haute and St. Paul Island National Wildlife Areas (the Amendments), as published in the Canada Gazette. 

In Budget 2018, under Nature Legacy 2018, the Government of Canada committed to supporting Canada’s biodiversity and protecting species at risk, in part by expanding the network of National Wildlife Areas (NWAs). In addition, the 2019 and 2020 Speeches from the Throne committed to protecting and conserving 25% of Canada’s lands and oceans by 2025. To support these goals, the Government of Canada invested an additional $2.3 billion over five years in Budget 2021. Canada has further committed to protect 30% of land and freshwater (and coastal and marine areas) by 2030, as a signatory to the Kunming-Montréal Global Biodiversity Framework.

Country Island, Isle Haute, and St. Paul Island in Nova Scotia provide important habitat and critical functions for several migratory birds and species at risk and were designated as NWAs to secure those conservation benefits. The designations provide broader protection to species and habitats on the islands than previously existed and contribute 588 hectares towards Canada’s commitment to conserve 30% of lands and waters by 2030.

A SEEA was undertaken using a Climate, Nature and Economic Lens (CNEL) template. The assessment determined that the designation of the Country Island, Isle Haute, and St. Paul Island NWAs will have modest, but positive effects on nature and biodiversity. While some species on the islands received limited federal protection, the designation of the islands as NWAs provides broader protections under the Wildlife Area Regulations (the Regulations) that extend to all species and habitats on the islands. The effects of the designations on greenhouse gas emissions, climate change adaptation, and climate resilience are expected to be negligible due to the remoteness and small area of the islands. Although climate change may pose a modest risk to this proposal achieving its objectives if sea level rise reduces land area or the suitability of habitat, this risk is not specific to or heightened in the NWAs relative to their surrounding areas.

The Amendments support targets 3, 4 and 8 of Canada’s Nature Strategy, namely conserving 30 percent of land and water by 2030, management to halt human induced extinction, and minimizing the impact of climate change. The NWA designations and protections provided by the Regulations will ensure that human disturbance on the islands remains minimal and important habitat is protected to increase connectivity in Canada’s protected areas network, thereby ensuring broad areas of habitat remain available as species distributions shift in response to climate change. The Amendments contribute to the 2022-2026 Federal Sustainable Development Strategy (FSDS) Goal 13: Take action on climate change and its impacts. The new NWAs, and the expanded and strengthened protected areas network more broadly, would indirectly support FSDS Goal 13 by maintaining the long-term overall health of the local ecosystems and supporting the conservation of biodiversity. Many ecosystems play a key role in mitigating climate change impacts. The Amendments support Goal 15 of the FSDS: Protect and recover species, conserve Canadian biodiversity. The Amendments support this goal by providing a modest contribution to the target of conserving 30% of Canada’s land and inland waters by 2030. Conserved areas are managed to achieve the long-term conservation of biodiversity, maintaining ecosystems together with their functions and supporting healthy populations of wild species. The Amendments also contribute to species protection by providing protected habitat for species at risk and migratory birds. The three islands are important stop-over sites for migrating birds, as well as important breeding, foraging, and over wintering sites. In recent years, Country Island has been designated as critical habitat for the Roseate Tern, listed as Endangered under the Species at Risk Act (SARA), as it supports one of the largest breeding colonies in Canada (approximately 25% of the Canadian nesting population). Isle Haute is an important gull, seabird, and Common Eider nesting and foraging site. St. Paul Island supports approximately 1% of the Canadian Bicknell’s Thrush population, listed as Threatened under SARA, and is a nesting site for Leach’s Storm-Petrel, assessed as threatened by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada.

Within the parameters of the Regulations, each NWA is managed according to the conservation objectives set out in its respective management plan, which is tailored to the specific characteristics of its site and surrounding area. Management plans are developed in consultation with local Indigenous communities, stakeholders, and the public and are used by Environment and Climate Change Canada’s (ECCC's) regional teams to guide decision-making on the monitoring of wildlife, the maintenance and improvement of wildlife habitat, the enforcement of regulations, the maintenance of any facilities, and permitting. ECCC will manage and monitor the NWAs in accordance with the plans established specifically for each. The management plans for these new NWAs will be reviewed five years after the initial management plan is published and then every 10 years thereafter. Under the National Protected Areas Program, evaluation of the effectiveness of protected area management is performed every three years, and where effectiveness is declining, appropriate action is taken to target any weaknesses.

Furthermore, a compliance strategy and a compliance promotion plan have been developed for the Amendments. ECCC's Enforcement Branch will monitor statistics of non-compliance (e.g., number of enforcement measures taken). The compliance strategy for these new NWAs will be reviewed two years after the coming into force of the Amendments, with the Canadian Wildlife Services and the Enforcement Branch being responsible for reviewing the effectiveness of the compliance strategy and compliance promotion plan.

Indigenous communities are broadly supportive of the establishment of these NWAs. The Amendments are not anticipated to impact any modern treaty agreements. However, the Amendments do take effect on islands and headlands in areas covered by the Peace and Friendship Treaties in Nova Scotia. Following the establishment of the NWAs, ECCC will seek input from Indigenous partners on the development of management plans, to help ensure that all parties agree on the objectives and management approaches for each NWA. Specific comments from Indigenous communities and other local stakeholders were taken into consideration for the activities that are authorized or prohibited within these new NWAs. The proposed Amendments were published in the Canada Gazette, Part I on July 1, 2023 for a 30-day public comment period. The results of the consultation indicated general support.

In accordance with guidance under the Cabinet Directive on Strategic Environmental and Economic Assessment, this proposal’s strategic environmental and economic assessment did not include a strategic economic analysis due to the nature and scope of the proposal.