Species at Risk Act
The Species at Risk Act (SARA) is Canada’s federal legislation for the protection of endangered and threatened species and their critical habitats. The Act establishes the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) as an independent scientific body responsible for assessing species at risk. Based on COSEWIC assessments, the government lists species on Schedule 1 as extirpated, endangered, threatened, or of special concern. The Act prohibits the killing, harming, harassing, capturing, or taking of listed endangered and threatened species, and protects their critical habitat on federal lands. The Act also requires the development of recovery strategies and action plans for endangered and threatened species.
Legal area: Environmental law regulates human activities affecting the environment, including toxic substances, species protection, and pollution prevention.
Year enacted: 2002
Full text: https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/S-15.3/
Key Provisions
- Section 15: COSEWIC (independent scientific assessment of species status)
- Section 27: Species listed on Schedule 1 (extirpated, endangered, threatened, special concern)
- Section 32: Prohibition on killing, harming, or taking listed species
- Section 33: Prohibition on destroying critical habitat on federal lands
- Section 37: Recovery strategy (for endangered and threatened species)
- Section 47: Action plan (implementation of recovery strategy)
- Section 58: Critical habitat protection
- Section 89: Stewardship agreements (voluntary conservation with landowners)
Significance
SARA is Canada’s commitment to biodiversity protection. The Act’s effectiveness has been questioned, with many species facing long delays in listing, recovery planning, and critical habitat protection. Of over 600 species listed as at risk, fewer than half have final recovery strategies. SARA interacts significantly with provincial authority over land and natural resources, as most critical habitat is on non-federal lands where SARA’s prohibitions do not directly apply. The 2009 amendments strengthened critical habitat protection on federal lands.