Service standards and performance: permits Wildlife Area Regulations

We issue permits to undertake certain activities within a National Wildlife Area (NWA) under the Wildlife Area Regulations (WAR) each year. 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 National Wildlife Area permit, we give you a decision within 40 calendar days.^{Footnote 1}

A 90-day service standard applies to any permit applications which may affect a species protected by the Species at Risk Act (SARA).

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 WAR. We regularly analyze performance data and review service standards for these permits.

Service standards and performance targets were reviewed in 2022 and no changes were made. The next review of service standards is scheduled for 2025.

Performance target

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

For National Wildlife Area permits:

• 2014 to 2015: 80% of decisions made within the service standard
• 2015 to 2016: 85% of decisions made within the service standard
• 2016 to 2017 onward: 90% of decisions made within the service standard

Performance reporting

ECCC measures service performance for permit decisions under the WAR annually and posts performance information online no later than June 1^st for the preceding reporting timeframe.

We met the performance targets for all permit decisions, under the WAR in 2023 to 2024.

Statistics relating to processing times for the issuance of these permits are provided in the following table:

Service feedback

Contact us at CWSPermit.PermisSCF@ec.gc.ca for any feedback on these service standards, user fees or on any issue related to Canadian Wildlife Service permits.

Applying for a National Wildlife Area permit

To submitting an application for a permit under the Wildlife Area Regulations, please contact your regional Canadian Wildlife Service office or email CWSPermit.PermisSCF@ec.gc.ca.

For more information

• Government-wide forward regulatory plans
• The Cabinet Directive on Regulatory Management
• The Red Tape Reduction Action Plan
• The Canada-United States Regulatory Cooperation Council

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