Caribou Conservation Stewardship Program

Overview

The Caribou Conservation Stewardship Program is a new stewardship program to support implementing projects that maintain and recover populations of Boreal Caribou in Ontario.

The program will provide funding towards conservation activities including on-the-ground habitat restoration and protection monitoring, science and research, to:

• non-profit organizations
• Indigenous communities
• other groups that support caribou conservation

This program is one way we are implementing the Agreement for the Conservation of Caribou, Boreal Population in Ontario, a five-year conservation agreement with the Government of Canada. The agreement provides an overall framework for establishing collaborative commitments, including habitat planning, protection and restoration activities from both the federal and provincial governments to protect and recover Boreal Caribou.

We are working with all partners to implement the conservation agreement in a way that balances protecting and recovering the species with the social and economic realities of Ontarians and industries in the North.

Who can apply

The fund is open to individuals and groups across Ontario, including:

• academic institutions
• businesses
• consulting companies
• Indigenous communities and organizations
• individuals
• industry organizations
• landowners
• municipal and local governments
• non-government organizations

The following groups are not eligible for funding under this program:

• provincial government ministries
• federal government departments and agencies
• unincorporated informal groups or clubs (non-legal entities)
• conservation authorities

Eligible projects

To be eligible for consideration, stewardship projects must contribute to the maintenance, recovery or adaptive management of populations of Boreal Caribou, including:

• on-the-ground habitat restoration and protection
• other conservation activities such as monitoring and research

Eligible activities include:

• habitat management/restoration
• conducting monitoring
• reduction of threats to Boreal Caribou
• research
• gathering, sharing or incorporating local and Indigenous traditional knowledge

Our priority is to allocate funding to projects that result in on-the-ground habitat restoration or protection.

We will review applications and allocate funding on an ongoing basis to projects that meet the program eligibility and priority criteria, until all available funding is allocated.

Program guidelines

You can find more information, including eligibility requirements and annual funding priorities, in the 2023–2024 Caribou Conservation Stewardship Program Guidelines.

To learn more, contact borealcaribouconservation@ontario.ca.

How to apply

We are not currently accepting applications for Caribou Conservation Stewardship Program. 

Current projects

Three stewardship projects were funded in year 1 of the conservation agreement.