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Wildlife Area Regulations (C.R.C., c. 1609)

Regulations are current to 2024-08-18 and last amended on 2023-05-19. Previous Versions

Domestic Animals and Non-Indigenous Wildlife

  •  (1) If a domestic animal is at large in a wildlife area and a wildlife officer has reasonable grounds to conclude that the animal has an owner, the officer may

    • (a) capture the animal if the owner

      • (i) is present but is unable or unwilling to capture the animal within a reasonable time, or

      • (ii) is not present or is unknown;

    • (b) require the owner to remove the animal from the wildlife area if the owner is present;

    • (c) impound the animal at the expense of the owner if the owner is not present;

    • (d) if the animal is injured, obtain medical care for the animal at the expense of the owner if the owner is known; and

    • (e) destroy the animal if it poses a danger to any person, any other domestic animal or any wildlife and the owner

      • (i) is present but is unable or unwilling to capture the animal within a reasonable time, or

      • (ii) is not present or is unknown.

  • (2) If a domestic animal is at large in a wildlife area and a wildlife officer has no reasonable grounds to conclude that the animal has an owner, the officer may

    • (a) capture the animal;

    • (b) impound the animal;

    • (c) if the animal is injured, obtain medical care for the animal; or

    • (d) destroy the animal if it poses a danger to any person, any other domestic animal or any wildlife.

  • (3) For the purposes of this section, the owner of an animal includes the person who is responsible for it.

 A wildlife officer, an employee referred to in subsection 3.5(2) or a person acting under the direction or control of the officer or the employee, may capture or destroy, in a wildlife area, any wildlife that is not indigenous to that wildlife area and is likely to cause immediate harm to indigenous wildlife or immediately degrade its habitat.

Temporary Closure of Wildlife Areas

  •  (1) The Minister may temporarily close all or any part of a wildlife area if

    • (a) there is a risk of harm to wildlife, including as a result of an outbreak of disease;

    • (b) there is a natural disaster or any other major emergency; or

    • (c) there is a risk to public safety or national security.

  • (2) The Minister shall give notice in writing to the public of

    • (a) the temporary closure of all or any part of a wildlife area under subsection (1); and

    • (b) the reopening of all or any part of a wildlife area.

  • (3) The written notice shall be posted at the entrance or boundary of the wildlife area or published on a federal government website or on other media.

  • (4) No person shall enter a wildlife area or any part of it that has been closed under subsection (1), other than a person referred to in section 3.5.

Permits

  •  (1) The Minister may, on application, issue a permit to a person or a government body for any activity referred to in section 3 or 3.3 if

    • (a) in the case where the purpose of the proposed activity is to promote the conservation or protection of wildlife or wildlife habitat,

      • (i) the benefits that the proposed activity is likely to have for the conservation or protection of wildlife or wildlife habitat outweigh any adverse effects that it is likely to have on wildlife or wildlife habitat, and

      • (ii) there are no alternatives to the proposed activity that would be likely to produce the same or equivalent benefits for the conservation or protection of wildlife or wildlife habitat but would be likely to have less significant adverse effects; and

    • (b) in any other case,

      • (i) taking into consideration the measures described in paragraph (2)(d), the adverse effects that the proposed activity is likely to have on wildlife or wildlife habitat would not compromise their conservation, and

      • (ii) there are no alternatives to the proposed activity that would allow the applicant to achieve the same outcome but would likely have less significant adverse effects on wildlife or wildlife habitat.

  • (2) The application must be in a form approved by the Minister and include the following information:

    • (a) the applicant’s contact information;

    • (b) details regarding the activity that the applicant proposes to carry out, including

      • (i) the purpose of the activity,

      • (ii) the location where it will be carried out,

      • (iii) the conveyances and devices that will be used, including remotely piloted aircraft and self-propelled terrestrial or aquatic devices, whether those devices are remotely controlled or autonomous,

      • (iv) the types of equipment that will be used, and

      • (v) the number of persons who will be carrying out the activity and their qualifications in relation to the activity;

    • (c) details regarding the effects that the activity is likely to have on wildlife or wildlife habitat in the wildlife area, including the likelihood that those effects will occur and their scope; and

    • (d) details regarding the measures that will be taken by the applicant to monitor the effects referred to in paragraph (c) and to prevent or, if prevention is not feasible, to mitigate any adverse effects.

 Before issuing a permit under subsection 4(1), the Minister shall, for the purpose of evaluating the effects that a proposed activity is likely to have on wildlife or wildlife habitat in the wildlife area and determining whether the effects are adverse, take the following into consideration:

  • (a) the likelihood that those effects will occur and their scope;

  • (b) the capacity of the wildlife or wildlife habitat to recover or to be restored, if the effects occur; and

  • (c) the cumulative effects of the activity when combined with the effects of other activities carried out in the wildlife area.

  •  (1) A permit must include the condition that the permit holder must notify the Minister of any change to any information provided in the application for the permit.

  • (2) A permit may include conditions with respect to

    • (a) the locations, dates, duration and frequency of the activity that may be carried out under the permit, the method by which the activity may be carried out and the types of equipment, devices and conveyances that may be used to carry out the activity;

    • (b) the measures that the permit holder must take to

      • (i) monitor the effects that the activity is likely to have on wildlife or wildlife habitat in the wildlife area, and

      • (ii) prevent or, if prevention is not feasible, mitigate any adverse effects;

    • (c) the reports that the permit holder must provide to the Minister with respect to the activity, including its actual and likely effects on wildlife or wildlife habitat in the wildlife area; and

    • (d) the minimum or maximum number of persons that may carry out the activity and the qualifications they must have.

 Any person carrying out activities authorized by a permit shall

  • (a) have a copy of the permit in their possession at all times when they are in the wildlife area; and

  • (b) show a copy of the permit to a wildlife officer on request.

 Every permit expires on the expiry date set out in the permit or, where a permit does not contain an expiry date, on December 31st of the year in which it was issued.

  •  (1) The Minister may suspend a permit if

    • (a) it is necessary to do so for the conservation or protection of wildlife or wildlife habitat in the wildlife area; or

    • (b) the permit holder has failed to comply with any condition of the permit.

  • (2) The permit is suspended until the day on which the Minister notifies the permit holder that the suspension is lifted.

  • (3) The Minister shall lift the suspension when the grounds for the suspension no longer exist or when the permit holder has taken the measures necessary to remedy the situation on which the suspension was based.

 The Minister may revoke a permit if

  • (a) it is necessary to do so for the conservation or protection of wildlife or wildlife habitat in the wildlife area;

  • (b) there are grounds on which to suspend the permit under subsection 7(1) and the permit has been suspended at least twice before;

  • (c) the permit has been suspended for at least six months; or

  • (d) the permit holder has provided false or misleading information.

  •  (1) The Minister may, on application, issue a permit to hunt migratory game birds in the Cap Tourmente National Wildlife Area to an applicant, who is chosen by lot, subject to the following conditions:

    • (a) the application for a permit for a particular year must be submitted to the Minister during the period beginning on February 15 and ending on April 30 of that year;

    • (b) the applicant must be a resident of Canada;

    • (c) only one application is to be accepted from an applicant during the application period referred to in paragraph (a); and

    • (d) the completed application must be accompanied by the non-refundable application fee set out in item 1 of Schedule III.

  • (2) The permit must indicate the period for which it is valid and set out the names of the guests of the permit holder, if any.

  • (3) The permit holder shall comply with the following conditions:

    • (a) on receipt of the permit, the permit holder shall pay the applicable fee set out for the permit in item 2, 3 or 4 of Schedule III and they and their guests shall sign the permit; and

    • (b) the permit holder shall carry a signed copy of the permit while hunting under the authority of the permit in the Cap Tourmente National Wildlife Area.

  • SOR/81-421, s. 1
  • SOR/83-716, s. 1
  • SOR/84-705, s. 1
  • SOR/85-899, s. 1
  • SOR/86-859, s. 1
  • SOR/91-480, s. 1
  • SOR/94-450, s. 1
  • SOR/98-431, s. 1
  • SOR/2020-256, s. 5

 No person shall hunt migratory game birds in the Cap Tourmente National Wildlife Area except in a blind approved by the Minister.

  •  (1) Every person who enters Cap Tourmente National Wildlife Area shall pay the applicable amount, if any, set out in item 1, 2, 3 or 4 of Schedule II.

  • (2) Every person who requests naturalist services shall pay the amount set out in item 5 of Schedule II.

  • (3) Subsections (1) and (2) do not apply when the entrance gate to the wildlife area is open and no attendant is present.

 [Repealed, SOR/99-95, s. 3]

 [Repealed, SOR/94-594, s. 9]

 

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