OTTAWA \u2014 Some of Canada\u2019s most prominent conservation groups say Ottawa is putting at risk its goals to protect nearly one-third of Canada\u2019s land and waterways, with tens of millions of dollars in federal funding about to run out.<\/p>\n
Canada has committed to protecting 30 per cent of its terrestrial and coastal areas by 2030 and was only about halfway to that target by the end of 2024. The commitment was reinforced by the Liberal election platform and the speech from the throne delivered by King Charles last May.<\/p>\n
In a letter sent to Prime Minister Mark Carney last week, the heads of four environmental advocacy groups said the lack of clarity on whether the funding will be renewed has created uncertainty for people working in the conservation sector.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has stalled conservation work already underway and put important rural jobs at risk. Failure to act now would waste years of public investment and leave communities and Indigenous partners without the support they were promised,\u201d the letter reads.<\/p>\n
The letter was signed by the heads of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, World Wildlife Fund Canada, Nature Canada, and Birds Canada.<\/p>\n
\u201cCanada cannot credibly champion sustainable development, economic resilience and global co-operation while stepping back from one of its most visible and widely supported commitments.\u201d the letter reads.<\/p>\n
The 2026-2027 departmental plan for Environment and Climate Change Canada, published on Friday, lists $366 million for conservation efforts. Last year the same document earmarked $952 million for conservation, while the previous year it was more than $1 billion.<\/p>\n
Much of the shortfall heading into 2026-2027 comes from the loss of $381 million from the sunsetting Enhanced Nature Legacy fund, officials from Environment and Climate Change Canada told parliamentarians on the House environment committee last week.<\/p>\n
The fund was a promise from the 2021 federal budget to spend $2.3 billion over five years on conservation, starting in 2021-22.<\/p>\n
Kurt Chin Quee, the department\u2019s assistant deputy minister and chief financial officer, told the committee that funding would not be replaced.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, we do have other funds within the nature program to support nature initiatives,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Emily McMillan, executive director of Nature Canada, said with just weeks to go before the funding is set to expire, environment groups can\u2019t get a clear answer from Ottawa on whether the money will be replaced.<\/p>\n
\u201cNone of the environmental groups have gotten a meeting with the prime minister, and when we meet with the ministers, they\u2019re also saying, \u2018Well, we don\u2019t know yet,\u2019 or, \u2018It\u2019s coming,\u2019 or, \u2018It\u2019ll come soon,’\u201d McMillan told The Canadian Press.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re starting to feel a little impatient here because when that much money ends at the end of March \u2026 we know for sure things will have to drop, but we don\u2019t even know which bits of it are going to drop.\u201d<\/p>\n
Speaking before the environment committee last week, Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin said she was aware of the issue.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me and our government, it\u2019s very important to continue to protect nature and to conserve it,\u201d she said in French in response to questions from Bloc Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois MP Patrick Bonin.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know that we have this date of March 31 and we\u2019re working on it. I don\u2019t have an amount to provide today, but I\u2019m aware of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dabrusin was unavailable for an interview with The Canadian Press on Monday. A statement from her spokesman, Keean Nembhard, said as of 2024, 13.8 per cent of land and inland water had been conserved and the government remains committed to the 30 per cent goal. He said a nature strategy is currently being developed. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe Government of Canada is proud of the meaningful work that has already taken place and are committed to continuing the work of protecting Canada\u2019s lands and waters, including through ongoing work of the government\u2019s upcoming nature strategy,\u201d Nembhard said.<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 16, 2026<\/p>\n
Nick Murray, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OTTAWA \u2014 Some of Canada\u2019s most prominent conservation groups say Ottawa is putting at risk its goals to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":541156,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194295],"tags":[49,48,20739],"class_list":["post-541155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ottawa","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-ottawa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/541155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=541155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/541155\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/541156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=541155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=541155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=541155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}