Overview

The Government of Ontario has completed the 2023 Review of Progress towards the Protection and Recovery of Ontario’s Species at Risk, which includes progress reports for 11 species at risk, and highlights recent activities undertaken as part of the province’s species at risk program. Ontario is committed the protection and recovery of these vulnerable plants and animals, so that future generations can enjoy our province’s rich biodiversity for years to come.

Under the Endangered Species Act, 2007 (ESA), reviews of progress towards the protection and recovery of a species are required to be conducted no later than the time specified in the government response statement (GRS) for each threatened, endangered or extirpated species, or not later than five years after the GRS is published if no time is specified for each species.

Progress made towards the protection and recovery of a species, as reported in the reviews of progress, is based on progress made towards implementing the actions set out in the species’ GRS. Further, depending upon the information and resources available at the time of the review, the review can also help identify implementation gaps as well as opportunities to adjust protection and recovery actions to achieve the recovery goal for the species.

In 2023, reviews of progress towards protection and recovery are required for 11 species for which GRSs were published in 2018:

Progress towards the protection and recovery of these 11 species is reported in a total of ten reports – nine single-species reports, and one multi-species report. The multi-species report covers the Carolinian and Great Lakes – St. Lawrence populations of Massasauga.

This progress report consists of an Introduction, which provides an update of recent activities under Ontario’s species at risk program, and ten chapters, with detailed information on the progress made toward the protection and recovery of the above-listed species.

Species at Risk in Ontario (SARO) List

On January 25, 2023, Ontario Regulation 230/08 was amended to make changes to the Species at Risk in Ontario (SARO) List to reflect the new classifications set out by the Committee on the Status of Species at Risk in Ontario (COSSARO) in their 2021 annual report, and submitted to the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks on January 26, 2022.

Two species were added to the SARO List as endangered: Striped Whitelip and Suckley’s Cuckoo Bumble Bee. Four species were added to the SARO List as threatened: Lesser Yellowlegs, Davis’s Shieldback, Reversed Haploa Moth, and Purple Wartyback. American Bumble Bee was added to the SARO List as special concern.

A number of species were reclassified on the SARO List. Short-eared Owl was reclassified from special concern to threatened. Lake Chubsucker was reclassified from threatened to endangered. Both Rapids Clubtail and Western Silvery Aster were reclassified from endangered to threatened. Barn Swallow and Lakeside Daisy were reclassified from threatened to special concern. Considerable effort to protect the species’ habitat has helped to reduce potential threats.

Red Knot – rufa subspecies was assessed by COSSARO as three separate designatable units: Red Knot – rufa subspecies (Northeastern South America wintering population) was assessed as special concern, and both the Red Knot – rufa subspecies (Southeastern USA / Gulf of Mexico / Caribbean wintering population) and Red Knot – rufa subspecies (Tierra del Fuego / Patagonia wintering population) were assessed as endangered. These designatable units are primarily distinguished by different overwintering grounds, along with differences in their morphology and genetics.

Kentucky Coffee-tree was classified as threatened in its native Ontario range, which includes Elgin, Essex, Lambton, Middlesex, Norfolk, and Oxford Counties and the Municipality of Chatham-Kent, and was not classified as at risk in all other jurisdictions in Ontario, where it occurs as planted specimens.

Three species were removed from the SARO List: Spring Salamander and Aweme Borer Moth as they were found to be data deficient (i.e., there was insufficient information available for COSSARO to make a decision as to the status of these species), and Beluga, as it was assessed as not at risk in Ontario.

As of December 2023, there are 125 endangered, 65 threatened, 59 special concern and 15 extirpated species on the SARO List for a total of 264 listed species.

Based on the protection status of species listed on the SARO List, species protection currently applies to 204 species listed as endangered, threatened or extirpated. Habitat protection is afforded to 189 species listed as endangered or threatened.

  • 125
    endangered
  • 65
    threatened
  • 59
    special concern
  • 15
    extirpated

Species assessment update

The Committee on the Status of Species at Risk in Ontario (COSSARO) is an independent body of experts that considers which of Ontario’s species should be listed as at risk (i.e., special concern, threatened, endangered or extirpated). COSSARO held two meetings in 2022 to conduct species assessments, where they assessed a total of 17 species.

In addition to these assessment meetings, on January 31, 2023 COSSARO submitted its 2022 annual report to the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks, communicating its listing decisions, including the status and classification rationale of each of the 17 species assessed in 2022. Species assessed as at risk in Ontario are added to the Species at Risk in Ontario (SARO) List within one year from the date that the annual report is received by the Minister. As a result, the SARO List will be updated by January 31, 2024.

The provincial record of species at risk

Staff at the Natural Heritage Information Centre (NHIC) at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) track Ontario’s species at risk by collecting, reviewing and managing species information that is then incorporated into the comprehensive provincial database known as Land Information Ontario (LIO). As of October 2023, LIO contained 1,237,175 observations and information on 27,210 occurrences of species at risk in Ontario.

Recovery strategies

Recovery strategies provide the best available science advice to government on the protection and recovery of species at risk. As of December 2023, recovery strategies have been developed for 173 species at risk. Progress is being made towards the development of recovery strategies for an additional ten endangered and threatened species. The Government of Ontario is cooperating with federal agencies on the development of the majority of these strategies, and strategically prioritizing the development of recovery strategies under the ESA for the remaining species.

Government response statements (GRS)

The Government of Ontario publishes a GRS to identify and communicate how the government will support the recovery of a species. The GRS is Ontario's species-specific policy on what is needed to protect and recover the species. The GRS for a species includes a recovery goal as well as actions the government will lead or support to help achieve that goal.

As of December 2023, government response statements have been published for 174 species listed as endangered, threatened, or special concern on the SARO List. 

Compliance monitoring and enforcement

The Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) is responsible for administering and enforcing the ESA and its regulations. The ministry’s risk-based compliance and enforcement framework including responses to potential impacts to species at risk and protected habitat and project-based proactive activities focused on approval holders and/or registered activities.   

The Ministry’s enforcement of the ESA focuses on achieving compliance. A suite of enforcement tools are applied proportionally to risk of the potential violation. Education and outreach promotes understanding of at-risk species protection responsibilities, stop work orders are used to address ongoing/ continued impacts, and prosecution in the most serious cases deters other potential violators.   

Everyone is encouraged to report activities they observe that may impact Ontario’s species at risk and/or their habitat by:

Species at risk stewardship, research and monitoring across Ontario Parks

Ontario Parks is a key partner in carrying out actions that contribute to species at risk protection and recovery in Ontario. Each year, Ontario Parks staff contribute to projects comprising research and monitoring, habitat creation, management, and restoration, and education and outreach, which further the realization of recovery goals and priorities for species at risk.

Some of the Ontario Parks projects undertaken in 2022 to support species at risk include:

  • successful Piping Plover monitoring and nest protection at Presqu’ile Provincial Park, the first nest since 2016
  • detailed species at risk inventories in Sandbanks Provincial Park and Mount Moriah Conservation Reserve
  • assessment of a new population of Pale-bellied Frost Lichen
  • monitoring and recovery activities for American Ginseng in Ontario’s southeast
  • assisting with Spotted Turtle and Blanding’s Turtle research within protected areas

Ontario Parks regularly conducts life science inventories in parks and protected areas, including surveys for bats, turtles, birds, insects, and plants. In 2022, detailed species at risk inventories were conducted in Sandbanks Provincial Park and Mount Moriah Conservation Reserve. Life science inventories were also conducted in several central Ontario protected areas, recording species such as Little Brown Bat, Black Ash stands, Least Bittern, Chimney Swift, Eastern Whip-poor-will as well as at-risk turtles. These inventories provide updated information that Ontario Parks uses to inform the management of parks and protected areas, and ensure values, including species at risk, are protected.

For more information about research in Ontario Parks, visit the Ontario Parks Blog or follow @OntarioParks on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Supporting public participation in species at risk stewardship activities

Stewardship is a cornerstone of the ESA. The Species at Risk Stewardship Program provides financial support to enable individuals and organizations to get directly involved in protecting and recovering Ontario’s species at risk.

Since the Species at Risk Stewardship Program was established in 2007, Ontario has provided funding for over 1,240 stewardship projects that have supported the protection and recovery of the province’s species at risk. Collectively, these projects have implemented on-the-ground recovery actions for over 200 species at risk. Ontario’s stewardship partners reported that the government’s support has helped them to involve over 84,000 individuals who volunteered more than 824,000 hours of their time for the projects. Provincially-funded projects have contributed to the restoration of approximately 150,000 acres of habitat for species at risk. Stewardship partners identified that millions of people have received species at risk information through their education and outreach activities.

Ontario’s Lake Sturgeon research

For more than 25 years, MNRF’s Fisheries Specialist Dr. Tim Haxton has been studying Lake Sturgeon in Ontario. This species at risk fish is one of the largest and longest-lived freshwater fishes in North America. It can weigh up to 180 kilograms, measure over 2 metres long, and live for more than 100 years. Historically, it was found in large rivers and lakes in the Hudson Bay and Great Lakes basins, but populations collapsed due primarily to historical over-harvesting, along with the degradation and damming of large rivers during the early 20th century. 

Working closely with MNRF colleagues, other provincial research scientists and fisheries biologists, as well as sturgeon researchers from across North America and Europe, Dr. Haxton’s collaborations have resulted in the recent publication of a number of Lake Sturgeon studies which advance the science, management and recovery knowledge of this important and unique species.

Evaluating Lake Sturgeon’s responses to past threats and mitigation can facilitate recovery efforts and the sustainable management of the species. Historical Lake Sturgeon biomass data collected in Lake of the Woods during the commercial harvest period, which ended in 1910, afforded a unique opportunity to model Lake Sturgeon population response to fishing effort, giving insight into historical abundance and harvest effects on a pristine population. Dr. Haxton was also involved in a collaborative evaluation of fish passage structures and methods to move Lake Sturgeon around dams in the US and Canada, providing practical information on both effectiveness and operational considerations for these potential mitigation tools. 

A novel ten-year telemetry study was completed in a northeastern Ontario tributary river of Lake Timiskaming with MNRF’s Kirkland Lake District Office. This project involved implanting 52 Lake Sturgeon with acoustic transmitters and tracking their movements, and found that fish in the lake traveled 54 km upstream to spawn and used the entire tributary river, demonstrating the importance of tributaries associated with large lakes for Lake Sturgeon spawning and nursery functions. Dr. Haxton also worked with Quebec researchers to compile multi-agency knowledge of spawning areas and activity in the St Lawrence and Ottawa Rivers, making important information on Lake Sturgeon spawning grounds available to the broader scientific community for consideration by conservation biologists, fisheries managers and stakeholders. As well, information on species diversity and the historical importance of continuous habitat and connectivity within major river systems where Lake Sturgeon has evolved was gained through a conservation genetics study. This research provides essential information to support Lake Sturgeon future management and recovery efforts in large river systems, to minimize impacts going forward and support the long-term sustainability of the species.  

Finally, Dr. Haxton and colleagues undertook a comprehensive review of assessment techniques for the suite of sturgeon life stages (from eggs and drifting larvae to adults), providing information on their usefulness and success. As well as supporting Lake Sturgeon population monitoring in Ontario, this work is applicable to sturgeon species found across the northern hemisphere, 80 per cent of which are threatened with extinction due to similar life histories and threats. Through support from the World Sturgeon Conservation Society, this will help with the establishment of sturgeon monitoring and recovery work globally. 

Species at risk research and monitoring

MNRF’s wildlife and aquatics research and monitoring programs undertake species at risk research in collaboration with universities and other government agencies, designing and delivering studies and programs that address actions outlined in the government response statements of multiple species at risk ranging from fish and mussels to amphibians, reptiles, birds and large mammals. This work contributes to a broader understanding of these species and improved protection and recovery efforts.

In 2022, numerous research and monitoring projects were undertaken for aquatic species at risk led by MNRF Research Scientist Dr. Scott Reid, including targeted sampling with a surface trawl of Pugnose Shiner to assess the status of this fish in eastern Lake Ontario coastal wetlands. Field sampling was also undertaken in support of long-term monitoring projects evaluating the response of wetland fishes at risk to the control of Invasive Phragmites in Long Point Bay, and the success of an American Eel conservation stocking effort in Lake Ontario/upper St. Lawrence River. Finally, targeted sampling with a brail of mussel species at risk in and along non-wadeable habitats of three southwestern Ontario rivers (Ausable, Sydenham and Thames) was completed.

MNRF Research Scientist Dr. Brent Patterson continues to participate in collaborative research on Eastern Wolf (formerly Algonquin Wolf) in Ontario, recently collecting samples and helping to develop improved genetic-based methods to monitor wolf and coyote distributions over time, including in relation to protected areas, and to develop a provincial database to store genetic data on Eastern Wolf and other Ontario canids. 

Dr. Joe Northrup leads Polar Bear research within MNRF and is involved in a wide range of work on the Southern Hudson Bay (which includes James Bay) and Western Hudson Bay subpopulations, collaborating with researchers from Canada, Nunavut, Quebec, the Eeyou Marine Region Wildlife Board and a number of Canadian universities. This includes multi-year projects to assess the fidelity of bears to different coastal areas and survey Polar Bear populations, ongoing study into the movement of bears and their habitat selection, and examining Polar Bear population ecology in James Bay.  

Research Scientist Dr. Christina Davy led a collaborative research study on the emerging snake fungal disease ‘Ophidiomycosis’ to evaluate the severity of this threat to Ontario snakes, finding that though the pathogen is fairly pervasive, it does not lead to widespread mortality. Further research examined the Eastern Foxsnake and other snakes at Rondeau Provincial Park for the fungus, finding that while the disease peaked in spring, it was mostly resolved by the end of summer, with snakes entering hibernation in good body condition. This research helps to better understand this potential threat to Ontario’s species at risk snakes.

MNRF is a partner in the third Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas, a five-year partnership project involving volunteer birders from across the province to survey and map the distribution and abundance of Ontario’s 300 species of breeding birds. Species at risk bird sightings will be stored and managed in MNRF’s NHIC Significant Species database.

Provincial researchers continue to study species at risk bats in Ontario and implement Ontario’s White Nose Syndrome Response Plan to address this disease which has caused mass mortality of hibernating bats. Ongoing surveillance and monitoring of bat populations continues in southwestern Ontario. Longer-term monitoring work along the Niagara Escarpment and Lake Erie shoreline is investigating bat habitat use and trends across seasons, supporting habitat mapping and the development of estimates of bat numbers and activity. Collaborative investigations are also underway on factors affecting bat maternity roosts, forest roosting behaviour, and the role of temperature in influencing the use of bat boxes. Provincial scientists also collaborated on a study involving species at risk bats and swallows, showing differences among species and how variations in flight height can affect wind turbine collision risks – an important step to inform wildlife-friendly operations.

Work continues on priorities for other species at risk in Ontario, including Bank Swallow, Eastern Whip-poor-will, salamanders and Boreal Caribou. Provincial scientists and partners have also undertaken research related to several of the species featured in this year’s reports, including Massasauga, Scarlett Ammannia and Eastern Small-footed Myotis. Research on provincial species at risk can lead to improved understanding of these species and helps to inform conservation decisions. For the latest updates on MNRF research projects and programs, follow @ONresources on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Coordinating species at risk protection and recovery efforts through the Species Conservation Action Agency

As part of our continued effort to make the species at risk program more effective, the Species Conservation Action Agency was established in September 2021 to administer the Species at Risk Conservation Fund (Fund) and finance strategic, large-scale, and coordinated actions aimed at supporting more positive outcomes for select species at risk designated as conservation fund species.

The Fund offers an alternative way for businesses, municipalities and individuals to protect and recover conservation fund species. Under this option, businesses, municipalities and individuals are still required to take action to avoid and minimize impacts on species at risk and their habitats. The Agency will use pooled funds collected through the Fund to protect and recover species on a province-wide scale with the long-term interest of these species in mind.

Conservation Agreement for Boreal Caribou in Ontario

In April 2022, Ontario and Canada signed a five-year bilateral conservation agreement for Boreal Caribou. The health of the Boreal Caribou population is important to the biodiversity of Ontario’s boreal forests. Protecting Boreal Caribou and conserving their habitat, while considering the unique needs of Northern Ontario and Indigenous communities, is a matter Ontario takes very seriously. 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.

To support the protection of Boreal Caribou and their habitat, Ontario is investing $29 million over four years for on-the-ground habitat restoration, protection and other conservation activities, including monitoring, science and research. Indigenous communities and organizations, conservation groups, academia, municipalities, and the forest, mineral exploration and development, energy and tourism industries and other stakeholders are engaged in the implementation of the agreement, including through working group participation and input on implementation plans. In the first year of the agreement, the province also began work to undertake boreal caribou monitoring, with population surveys completed in four ranges. Work is underway to help improve understanding of the current population, distribution status and future trends of boreal caribou at a range-scale, in order to support recovery efforts, such as habitat restoration activities. To inform caribou conservation, Ontario has invested in stewardship projects investigating the genetic diversity of the Churchill Range boreal caribou and the habitat use and needs of the species in six additional ranges. Ontario is also supporting the development and refinement of methods for preserving boreal caribou genetic material, as an innovative recovery tool.