Migratory Bird Sanctuary Regulations (C.R.C., c. 1036)

Short Title

1 These Regulations may be cited as the Migratory Bird Sanctuary Regulations.

Interpretation

• 2 (1) In these Regulations,

  Act

  Act means the Migratory Birds Convention Act; (Loi)

  eggs

  eggs means the eggs of migratory birds and includes parts of such eggs; (oeufs)

  hunt

  hunt means to chase, pursue, worry, follow after or on the trail of, stalk, lie in wait for the purpose of taking, trap or attempt to trap or shoot at a migratory bird whether or not the migratory bird is then or subsequently captured, killed or injured; (chasser)

  migratory bird sanctuary

  migratory bird sanctuary means an area referred to in subsection 3(1); (refuge d’oiseaux migrateurs)

  migratory birds

  migratory birds means migratory game birds, migratory insectivorous birds and migratory non game birds; (oiseaux migrateurs)

  Minister

  Minister means the Minister of the Environment; (ministre)

  nest

  nest means the nest of a migratory bird or any portion thereof; (nid)

  permit

  permit means a permit issued under these Regulations; (permis)

  permit holder

  permit holder means a person to whom a permit is issued. (titulaire d’un permis)

Migratory Bird Sanctuaries

• 3 (1) The areas set out in the schedule are hereby prescribed as migratory bird sanctuaries.

• (2) No person shall, in a migratory bird sanctuary,

  • (a) hunt migratory birds,

  • (b) disturb, destroy or take the nests of migratory birds, or

  • (c) have in his possession a live migratory bird, or a carcass, skin, nest or egg of a migratory bird,

  except under authority of a permit therefor.

• (3) Notwithstanding paragraph (2)(c), a resident of or a person domiciled in a migratory bird sanctuary may have in their possession migratory birds lawfully killed outside a migratory bird sanctuary.

• 4 (1) No person shall have in his possession in a migratory bird sanctuary

  • (a) any firearm; or

  • (b) any hunting appliance except as otherwise provided in these Regulations.

• (2) Subsection (1) does not apply to any resident or person actually domiciled in a migratory bird sanctuary while that resident or person is in his residence or transporting any firearms or a hunting appliance to or from his residence.

• (3) Subject to the Act and the Migratory Birds Regulations, 2022, the Minister may issue a permit authorizing any person to have firearms in their possession and to shoot and have in their possession migratory birds in such portion of a migratory bird sanctuary and during such time as are specified in the permit.

• 5 (1) No person who owns a dog or cat shall permit the dog or cat to run at large in a migratory bird sanctuary.

• (2) A game officer may destroy any dog or cat found chasing or molesting migratory birds in a migratory bird sanctuary.

6 No person shall, from May 1st to August 31st in any year, climb or attempt to climb the cliffs on the north and east sides of Bonaventure Island or Percé Rock.

7 [Repealed, SOR/80-738, s. 1]

8 No person shall, in Vaseux Lake Bird Sanctuary, use a boat or other floating device that is equipped with any means of propulsion other than sails or oars except under authority of a permit.

8.1 During the period beginning on June l and ending on July 31 each year, no person shall enter the Machias Seal Island Bird Sanctuary in the Province of New Brunswick except under authority of a permit issued by the Minister.

Permits

• 9 (1) The Minister may issue, or authorize any person to issue, any permit referred to in these Regulations.

• (2) Every person who applies for a permit shall, if requested by the Minister, furnish such information in respect of the purpose for which the permit is requested as the Minister may require.

• (3) Every permit shall be subject to such conditions as in the opinion of the Minister are necessary to protect migratory birds or the eggs, nests or habitat of migratory birds within a migratory bird sanctuary.

• (4) The Minister may

  • (a) refuse to issue a permit to any person; or

  • (b) cancel any permit that has been issued to any person,

  if, in his opinion, that person has failed to comply with the conditions set out in the permit or the activities being carried on by that person are likely to be harmful to migratory birds or the eggs, nests or habitat of migratory birds within a migratory bird sanctuary.

• (5) Every permit expires on the expiry date set out therein or, where the permit does not contain an expiry date, on December 31st next following the day on which it was issued.

• 10 (1) No person shall, in a migratory bird sanctuary, carry on any activity that is harmful to migratory birds or the eggs, nests or habitat of migratory birds, except under authority of a permit.

• (2) A permit referred to in subsection (1) may be issued

  • (a) by the Minister, where the sanctuary is situated on land owned by Her Majesty in right of Canada; or

  • (b) by the chief provincial wildlife officer of a province, where the sanctuary is situated on land owned by Her Majesty in right of the province.

• (3) For the purposes of subsection (2), chief provincial wildlife officer means the person appointed as chief or director of a provincial authority responsible for the administration of a provincial wildlife act.

11 Notwithstanding anything in these Regulations,

• (a) any waterfowl hunter may transport his unloaded firearm through the Grand Manan Bird Sanctuary by means of the secondary road that leaves the main highway at Mark Hill and runs across Lot No. 76;

• (b) any waterfowl hunter may transport unloaded firearms and other hunting appliances through Île-au-Héron Bird Sanctuary when hunting for waterfowl is lawful in the district within which that Sanctuary is located;

• (c) any waterfowl hunter may transport unloaded firearms and other hunting appliances through the Wavy Creek section of the Moose River Migratory Bird Sanctuary adjacent to Shipsands Island;

• (d) any person who is the holder of, or eligible for, a general hunting licence for the Northwest Territories may carry a firearm within any migratory bird sanctuary lying north of the 60th parallel of north latitude for the purpose of taking fur-bearing animals, big game or sea mammals in accordance with that licence;

• (e) any person herding reindeer may use dogs for the purpose of retrieving any reindeer that stray into the Kendall Island Bird Sanctuary or the Anderson River Delta Bird Sanctuary; or

• (f) any person herding reindeer may allow those reindeer to pass through the Anderson River Delta Bird Sanctuary to and from the Nicholson Peninsula at 65°55′ north latitude and 129° west longitude.