Critical Habitat for Species at Risk National Dataset - Canada

This dataset displays the geographic areas within which critical habitat (CH) for terrestrial species at risk, listed on Schedule 1 of the federal Species at Risk Act (SARA), occurs in Canada. Note that this includes only terrestrial species and species for which Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) and Parks Canada Agency (PCA) lead.



Under SARA, critical habitat is “the habitat that is necessary for the survival or recovery of a listed wildlife species and that is identified as the species’ critical habitat in the recovery strategy or action plan for the species.”



To precisely define what constitutes critical habitat for a particular species it is essential that this geospatial information be considered in conjunction with complementary information provided in a species’ recovery document. Recovery documents are available from the Species at Risk (SAR) Public Registry ( https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/species-risk-public-registry.html) for two posting stages (proposed and final posting). The recovery documents contain important information about the interpretation of the geospatial information, especially regarding the biological and environmental features (“biophysical attributes”) that complete the definition of a species’ critical habitat. Within any defined critical habitat geospatial boundary, not all of the area is necessarily critical habitat.



It is important to note that recovery planning documents (and, therefore, critical habitat) may be amended from time to time as new information becomes available, which may occur after a document has been posted as proposed or final on the SAR Public Registry. The SAR Public Registry should always be considered as the main source for critical habitat information. In cases where the data are sensitive, the geographic area within which critical habitat occurs may be represented as grids. These are coarse grids (1, 10, 50 or 100 square kilometres) that serve as indicators to locate critical habitat in the recovery planning document.



More detailed information on critical habitat may be made available on a need-to-know basis by contacting Environment and Climate Change Canada – Canadian Wildlife Service at ec.planificationduretablissement-recoveryplanning.ec@canada.ca.



The data is current as of the date of the most recent revision.

Basic view

Metadata Record Information

File Identifier
47caa405-be2b-4e9e-8f53-c478ade2ca74 XML
Date Stamp
2025-02-12T18:53:52.155Z
Metadata language

eng; CAN
Character set
UTF8
Hierarchy Level
Series
Author
  Government of Canada; Environment and Climate Change Canada; Canadian Wildlife Service - Environment and Climate Change Canada ( CWS-WAID-MAID-DMO)

351 St. Joseph Blvd., Gatineau, Quebec, K1A 0H3, Canada
http://ec.gc.ca
 

Data identification

Title

Critical Habitat for Species at Risk National Dataset - Canada
Date (Creation)
2014-11-28
Date (Publication)
2015-07-09
Date (Revision)
2025-01-23
Status
On going
Metadata language

eng; CAN, fr; CAN
Character set
UTF8
Topic category
  • Biota
Maintenance and Update Frequency
As needed
Spatial representation type
Vector
Point of contact
  Government of Canada; Environment and Climate Change Canada; Canadian Wildlife Service

351 St. Joseph Blvd., 14th Floor, Gatineau, Quebec, Canada

Keywords

Place

  • Canada
Theme

  • Critical Habitat

  • Species at Risk (SAR)

  • Species at Risk Act (SARA)

  • Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS)

  • Biological diversity

  • Migratory Birds

ECCC Information Category EN

  • Nature and Biodiversity - Habitat

Government of Canada Core Subject Thesaurus

  • Protected species

  • Habitats

  • Environment

  • Endangered species

Business Functions

  • Protect Species Well-Being

  • Protect and Restore Species

Geography

  • National (CA)

external.theme.EC_Branch

  • Canadian Wildlife Service

external.theme.EC_Directorate

  • Wildlife Assessment and Information

external.theme.EC_Program_PAA

  • 1.1.2 Species at Risk

external.theme.GC_Security_Level

  • Unclassified
 
Use Limitation

Open Government Licence - Canada ( http://open.canada.ca/en/open-government-licence-canada)

Access Constraints
License
Use Constraints
License
Begin Date
2014-09-15

Extent

N
S
E
W
thumbnail




 
 

Ref. system Reference Systems

Reference system identifier
EPSG / EPSG:3978 /
 

Distribution

Distribution Formats

Distribution format
  • ZIP ( 1)

 
Distributor
  Government of Canada; Environment and Climate Change Canada; Canadian Wildlife Service - Environment and Climate Change Canada ( Public inquiries)

351 St. Joseph Blvd., 14th Floor, Gatineau, Quebec, K1A 0H3, Canada
http://ec.gc.ca
 
 

Overviews

overview
Critical Habitat

N
S
E
W
thumbnail




Keywords

Biological diversity Canada Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) Critical Habitat Migratory Birds Species at Risk (SAR) Species at Risk Act (SARA)
Business Functions

Protect Species Well-Being Protect and Restore Species
ECCC Information Category EN

Nature and Biodiversity - Habitat
Government of Canada Core Subject Thesaurus

Endangered species Environment Habitats Protected species
external.theme.EC_Branch

Canadian Wildlife Service
external.theme.EC_Directorate

Wildlife Assessment and Information
external.theme.EC_Program_PAA

1.1.2 Species at Risk
external.theme.GC_Security_Level

Unclassified


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