Migratory Birds Regulations, 2022 (SOR/2022-105)

Marginal note:Conditions

• 13 (1) The Minister may set out in a permit conditions respecting

  • (a) the species of migratory birds the permitted activity relates to and the periods of time and the areas in which the permitted activity can take place;

  • (b) the care, release, scaring, capture, killing or disposal of migratory birds;

  • (c) the taking, relocation, handling and disposal of eggs;

  • (d) the removal, relocation, handling and disposal of nests; and

  • (e) the maintenance of records and provision of information to the Minister with respect to activities conducted in accordance with the permit.

• Marginal note:Gift of migratory bird

  (2) Every permit is subject to the condition that the holder must not give away a migratory bird that is obtained under the permit and that is of a species listed in Schedule 1 to the Species at Risk Act unless the Minister indicates on the permit that such a gift is authorized.

• Marginal note:Use of feathers

  (3) Every permit is subject to the condition that the holder must not do the following with migratory bird feathers obtained under the permit:

  • (a) sell or exchange them for ornamental use or hat-making; or

  • (b) give them for ornamental use or hat-making unless the recipient of the gift may exercise a right recognized and affirmed by section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982 to use the feather in that way.

Marginal note:Invalidity

14 No permit is valid

• (a) in the case of permits other than migratory game bird hunting permits, if it is not signed by the individual to whom it is issued or, if it is not issued to an individual, by a representative of the person to whom it is issued;

• (b) after it is cancelled or during the period it is suspended, unless it is reissued in accordance with subsection 15(3); or

• (c) if it expires in accordance with section 16 or 33.

Marginal note:Powers of the Minister — permits

• 15 (1) The Minister may

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

  • (b) cancel a permit if the Minister has reasonable cause to believe that the person to whom it was issued has provided false, misleading or incomplete information to the Minister or failed to comply with any condition of the permit; or

  • (c) cancel, amend or suspend any permit for the purposes of the conservation or propagation of migratory birds.

• Marginal note:Notice

  (2) A cancellation, amendment or suspension of a permit under paragraph (1)(c) is effected by sending a written notice to the person to whom the permit was issued that includes the reasons for the decision.

• Marginal note:Cancellation, amendment or suspension of permit

  (3) A permit that is cancelled, amended or suspended under paragraph (1)(c) must be reissued

  • (a) if the circumstances which led to the cancellation, amendment or suspension are rectified; or

  • (b) if the person to whom the permit was issued is not provided with the opportunity to be heard within 30 days after the date of the cancellation, amendment or suspension.

Marginal note:Expiry

16 Every permit, other than a migratory game bird hunting permit referred to in section 30, expires on the expiry date set out in the permit or, if a permit does not contain an expiry date, on December 31 of the year in which it was issued.

Marginal note:Reports

17 Every person to whom a permit was issued and who is required by these Regulations to submit a report to the Minister must, except as otherwise provided in these Regulations, submit that report within 30 days of the day on which the permit expires.

Marginal note:Gift of feathers — permit

• 18 (1) Subject to paragraph 13(3)(b), a person who has in their possession migratory bird feathers, other than eiderdown, under a permit may give those feathers to another person for educational, social, cultural or spiritual purposes.

• Marginal note:Possession

  (2) A recipient of a gift of feathers that were obtained under subsection (1) has the right to have the feathers in their possession.

Powers of the Minister to Vary the Application of the Regulations

Marginal note:Periods or limits

• 19 (1) If the Minister considers it necessary for the conservation of migratory game birds or murres, the Minister may take one or more of the following measures to vary the application of these Regulations in an area referred to in Schedule 3:

  • (a) alter open seasons, daily bag limits, or possession limits in the area; and

  • (b) prohibit hunting of a species of migratory game bird or murre in the area.

• Marginal note:Restriction — varying section 21

  (2) However, the Minister must not use the power referred to in subsection (1) to require that individuals exercising a right referred to in section 21 hunt only during an open season, to impose a daily bag limit or possession limit on those individuals or to prohibit them from hunting a species of migratory game bird or murre unless using the power with respect to the holders of the migratory game bird hunting permits referred to in section 30 is insufficient to achieve the conservation of those migratory game birds or murres.

• Marginal note:Power with respect to section 52

  (3) If the Minister exercises the power referred to in subsection (1) in accordance with subsection (2), the Minister may vary the application of section 52 to have it also apply to migratory game birds or murres killed or taken as an exercise of a right referred to in section 21.

• Marginal note:Notice

  (4) If the Minister uses the power referred to in subsection (1) or (3), the Minister must post a notice that describes the way the application of these Regulations is varied on a Government of Canada website.

• Marginal note:Duration

  (5) The application of these Regulations is varied during the period beginning on the day on which the notice is posted and ending on July 31 next following that day or on any earlier date fixed by the Minister.

• Marginal note:Prohibition

  (6) If the Minister has altered the open season, the daily bag limit or the possession limit in accordance with paragraph (1)(a), a person must not, during the period referred to in subsection (5), as the case may be,

  • (a) hunt except during the open season established by the Minister;

  • (b) kill or take, in any one day, a number of migratory game birds or murres of any species or group of species that exceeds the daily bag limit established by the Minister; or

  • (c) have in their possession a number of migratory game birds or murres of any species or group of species in excess of the possession limit established by the Minister.

• Marginal note:Prohibition — hunting in an area

  (7) If the Minister has prohibited the hunting of a species of migratory game bird or murre in an area in accordance with paragraph (1)(b), a person must not hunt that species in that area during the period referred to in subsection (5).

Marginal note:Urgent action

• 20 (1) The Minister may vary or suspend the application of these Regulations in a given location if urgent action is needed and if the Minister considers it necessary for the conservation of migratory birds.

• Marginal note:Notice

  (2) The Minister must, on a Government of Canada website, post a notice indicating the ways in which the application of these Regulations is varied or suspended and the location in which their application is varied or suspended.

• Marginal note:Duration of suspension

  (3) The application of these Regulations is varied or suspended during the period beginning on the day on which the notice is posted until the first anniversary of that day or any earlier date fixed by the Minister.

Section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982

Marginal note:Hunting and harvesting

• 21 (1) An individual exercising a right recognized and affirmed by section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982 to hunt migratory birds and harvest their eggs may exercise those rights without a permit and without being subject to a limit as to open seasons, a daily bag limit or a possession limit.

• Marginal note:Inuvialuit

  (2) Beneficiaries of the Inuvialuit Final Agreement approved, given effect and declared valid by the Western Arctic (Inuvialuit) Claims Settlement Act may, within the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, as defined in section 2 of that Agreement, hunt and harvest migratory birds without a permit and without being subject to a limit as to open seasons, a daily bag limit or a possession limit.

Marginal note:Right to exchange

• 22 (1) An individual exercising a right recognized and affirmed by section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982 to exchange a migratory bird with another individual who may exercise such a right is authorized to do so.

• Marginal note:Gift for taxidermy, consumption or training

  (2) An individual who has in their possession a migratory game bird under a right recognized and affirmed by section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982 may give it to another person for the purpose of taxidermy, human consumption (including for charitable purposes) or training dogs as retrievers.

• Marginal note:Gift to charity permit holder

  (3) However, the individual must preserve a migratory game bird before giving it to the holder of a charity permit.

• Marginal note:Possession

  (4) Subject to the limits on the possession of migratory game birds set out in section 46 or subsection 51(1), the recipient of such a gift has the right to have it in their possession.

Marginal note:Gift, sale or exchange of feathers

• 23 (1) An individual who has in their possession migratory bird feathers under a right recognized and affirmed by section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982 may

  • (a) give, sell or exchange those feathers for a functional purpose; and

  • (b) give those feathers to another person for educational, social, cultural or spiritual purposes.

• Marginal note:Buying and possession

  (2) A person may

  • (a) buy feathers that are sold in accordance with paragraph (1)(a) or exchange things for feathers that are exchanged in accordance with that paragraph; and

  • (b) have in their possession any feathers obtained in accordance with subsection (1).

• Marginal note:Restriction

  (3) This section does not authorize giving, selling or exchanging feathers for ornamental or hat-making purposes, unless the person who obtains the feathers may exercise a right recognized and affirmed by section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982 to use the feathers for such purposes.

Marginal note:Rights held by a collectivity

24 In these Regulations, a requirement to record the number of a permit under which an activity is authorized is, for an individual who is engaging in that activity as an exercise of a right referred to in section 21 or 22, a requirement to record the name of the collectivity holding that right.

PART 2Hunting Migratory Game Birds

Application

Marginal note:Scope

25 This Part applies to the hunting and subsequent possession of migratory game birds. Unless otherwise indicated, it does not apply to activities that are authorized by

• (a) a migratory game bird hunting permit referred to in section 30 and described in Part 3; or

• (b) permits other than a migratory game bird hunting permit.

Marginal note:Migratory game birds including murres

26 For the purposes of this Part, except as otherwise indicated, migratory game birds includes murres.

Prohibitions

Marginal note:Unauthorized hunting

• 27 (1) A person must not hunt migratory game birds unless authorized by these Regulations.

• Marginal note:General hunting licence

  (2) Subject to the laws of the territory in which the hunt takes place, the holder of a general hunting licence referred to in the Wildlife Act of the Northwest Territories, S.N.W.T. 2013, c. 30, or the Wildlife Act of Nunavut, S.Nu. 2003, c. 26, as those Acts are amended from time to time, may, within the relevant territory, without a migratory game bird hunting permit, hunt migratory game birds and have in their possession the birds they have hunted.

Marginal note:Hunting out of season

• 28 (1) A person must not hunt a species of migratory game bird in an area referred to in Schedule 3 except during the period beginning on the first day of any open season for that area and that species and ending on the last day of that season.

• Marginal note:Open season on certain land

  (2) If column 4 of Table 1 or Table 2 of any Part of Schedule 3 indicates that an open season applies only on certain land in an area set out in column 1, a person must not hunt a species of migratory game bird set out in column 2 during the open season except on that land.

• Marginal note:Hours hunting is prohibited

  (3) A person must not hunt a migratory game bird

  • (a) north of 60° north latitude during the period commencing one hour after sunset on any day and ending one hour before sunrise on the next day; or

  • (b) south of 60° north latitude during the period commencing half an hour after sunset on any day and ending half an hour before sunrise on the next day unless otherwise specified in Schedule 3.

Marginal note:Restrictions with respect to Sandhill Cranes

29 If, in any calendar year, the Minister or chief provincial wildlife officer has reasonable cause to believe that Whooping Crane may be in any area in the province during the open season for Sandhill Crane in the area, the Minister or chief provincial wildlife officer may prohibit the hunting of Sandhill Crane in that area during the remainder of the calendar year.

Migratory Game Bird Hunting Permit

Marginal note:Hunting for human consumption

• 30 (1) A migratory game bird hunting permit allows the holder to hunt, primarily for human consumption, migratory game birds other than eggs and to have in their possession the birds they hunted.

• Marginal note:Exception — murres

  (2) A migratory game bird hunting permit does not allow its holder to hunt a murre or to have one in their possession unless they are a resident of Newfoundland and Labrador, as defined in section 2 of the Wild Life Act of Newfoundland and Labrador, R.S.N.L. 1990, c. W-8.

Marginal note:Habitat conservation stamp

• 31 (1) A person must not hunt migratory game birds under a migratory game bird hunting permit unless a habitat conservation stamp that is authorized by the Minister appears on the permit.

• Marginal note:Fee for stamp

  (2) Subject to subsection 32(1), a person who applies for a migratory game bird hunting permit set out in item 1, column 1, of Schedule 2 must also pay the fee for the habitat conservation stamp set out in item 9, column 2 of Schedule 2.

• Marginal note:Validity

  (3) The habitat conservation stamp is valid for the period of validity of the permit on which it appears.