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CARTS Reports

This report summarises the number and amount of federal, provincial, and territorial government protected areas* in Canada at this time. Both terrestrial and marine areas are included, although all freshwater areas are currently not distinct from the terrestrial records. Canada's land territory is 10.1 million km2. Canada's marine territory, as defined by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982 (UNCLOS), includes Internal Waters, Territorial Seas, and the Exclusive Economic Zone and covers a total of 5.6 million km2.

Changes to this report since March 31, 2011, include updates to Prince Edward Island, Quebec, and Saskatchewan data and corrections to Manitoba, Nova Scotia, and Fisheries and Oceans Canada data.

View Data Publication and Limitation Notes

2011.05.01
Quebec Data 2011.03.31
NATIONAL
  Area Protected (hectares) Total # of
Protected Areas
Terrestrial (ha) Marine (ha)
Canada (all Provinces & Territories)
 97,501,554
 4,924,767
 5,771
% of Biome protected
 9.64% 0.88%  
Total Area Protected 102,426,310.76
% of Canada Protected 6.52%

FEDERAL
  Area Protected (hectares) Total # of
Protected Areas
Terrestrial (ha) Marine (ha)
Parks Canada Agency
 30,343,615 1,288,175 47
Environment Canada
 10,490,061 1,958,900 130
Department of Fisheries & Oceans
 0 1,038,998 8
Indian and Northern Affairs Canada
 5,384,675 0 1
Total Area Protected 50,504,424  
Note that Fisheries and Oceans Canada marine protected area includes 855.969,14 ha that is in the EEZ.

ALBERTA
  Area Protected (hectares) Total # of
Protected Areas
Terrestrial (ha) Marine (ha)
Provincially Administered
 2,749,876 0 252
Parks Canada Agency
 5,405,000 0 5
Environment Canada
 58,159 0 6
Total Biome Area Protected 8,213,034   263
% of Biome Protected
 12.41% N/A  
Total Area Protected 8,213,034.49

BRITISH COLUMBIA
  Area Protected (hectares) Total # of
Protected Areas
Terrestrial (ha) Marine (ha)
Provincially Administered
 12,977,146 268,104 996
Parks Canada Agency
 619,030 366,100 8
Environment Canada
 2,743 297 7
Total Biome Area Protected 13,598,919 634,501 1,011
% of Biome Protected
 14.39% N/A  
Total Area Protected 14,233,419.60

MANITOBA
  Area Protected (hectares) Total # of
Protected Areas
Terrestrial (ha) Marine (ha)
Provincially Administered
 5,020,902 8,216 117
Parks Canada Agency
 1,363,945 80,325 2
Environment Canada
 60 0 2
Nature Conservancy Canada 6,403 0 118
Ducks Unlimited Canada
 3,442 0 58
Manitoba Naturalists Society 355 0 8
Total Biome Area Protected 6,395,106 88,541 305
% of Biome Protected 9.84% N/A  
Total Area Protected 6,483,647.16

NEW BRUNSWICK
  Area Protected (hectares) Total # of
Protected Areas
Terrestrial (ha) Marine (ha)
Provincially Administered
 176,239 104 64
Parks Canada Agency
 40,460 4,050 2
Environment Canada
 5,851 1,369 6
Fisheries and Oceans Canada 0 742 1
Private 785 21 1
Total Biome Area Protected 223,335 6,286 74
% of Biome Protected 3.10% N/A  
Total Area Protected 229,621.39

NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR
  Area Protected (hectares) Total # of
Protected Areas
Terrestrial (ha) Marine (ha)
Provincially Administered
 662,996 15,200 57
Parks Canada Agency
 1,190,490 0 3
Environment Canada
 18 1,341 3
Fisheries and Oceans Canada 0 6,409 2
Total Biome Area Protected 1,853,504 22,950 65
% of Biome Protected 4.57% N/A  
Total Area Protected 1,876,453.80

NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
  Area Protected (hectares) Total # of
Protected Areas
Terrestrial (ha) Marine (ha)
Territorially Administered
 108,625 0 3
Parks Canada Agency
 6,924,400 9,700 4
Environment Canada
 2,098,663 115,520 5
Fisheries and Oceans Canada 0 174,955 1
Indian Affairs & Northern Development 2,127,000 0 1
Gwich'in Land Use Planning Board 591,051 0 17
Tlicho 137,500 0 1
Tulita DLC 27,260 0 1
Total Biome Area Protected 12,041,499 300,175 33
% of Biome Protected 8.94% N/A  
Total Area Protected 12,314,674.22

NOVA SCOTIA
  Area Protected (hectares) Total # of
Protected Areas
Terrestrial (ha) Marine (ha)
Provincially Administered
 319,740 0 58
Parks Canada Agency
 134,900 270 3
Environment Canada
 5,132 1,947 12
Total Biome Area Protected 459,772 2,217 73
% of Biome Protected 8.36% N/A  
Total Area Protected 461,989.61

NUNAVUT
  Area Protected (hectares) Total # of
Protected Areas
Terrestrial (ha) Marine (ha)
Territorially Administered
 153,286 0 8
Parks Canada Agency
 9,267,300 694,900 4
Environment Canada
 8,180,549 1,804,322 16
Indian Affairs & Northern Development 3,257,675 0 1
Total Biome Area Protected 20,858,810 2,499,222 29
% of Biome Protected 9.97% N/A  
Total Area Protected 23,358,032.33

ONTARIO
  Area Protected (hectares) Total # of
Protected Areas
Terrestrial (ha) Marine (ha)
Provincially Administered
 9,395,213 0 641
Parks Canada Agency
 1,219,610 0 7
Environment Canada
 30,796 544 18
Total Biome Area Protected 10,645,563 544 666
% of Biome Protected 9.89% N/A  
Total Area Protected 10,646,107.10

PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND
  Area Protected (hectares) Total # of
Protected Areas
Terrestrial (ha) Marine (ha)
Provincially Administered
 9,710 1,526 85
Parks Canada Agency
 2,700 0 1
Fisheries and Oceans Canada 0 923 1
Island Nature Trust 976 118 26
Co-managed 1,625 53 5
Nature Conservancy Canada 54 35 3
Private 388 18 14
(to be provided) 4 0 1
Total Biome Area Protected 15,458 2,674 136
% of Biome Protected 2.73% N/A  
Total Area Protected 18,131.00

QUEBEC
  Area Protected (hectares) Total # of
Protected Areas
Terrestrial (ha) Marine (ha)
Provincially Administered
 12,928,376 345,299 2,103
Parks Canada Agency and Quebec
 0 124,530 1
Parks Canada Agency 89,880 500 3
Environment Canada 25,233 33,559 36
National Capital Commission (Canada) 36,131 0 1
Private 23,843 0 259
Total Biome Area Protected 13,103,463 503,888 2,403
% of Biome Protected 8.66% 3.28%  
Total Area Protected 13,607,350.47
% Total Protected 8.16%

SASKATCHEWAN
  Area Protected (hectares) Total # of
Protected Areas
Terrestrial (ha) Marine (ha)
Provincially Administered
 3,835,079 0 666
Parks Canada Agency
 478,100 0 2
Environment Canada
 77,375 0 20
Total Biome Area Protected 4,390,553 0 689
% of Biome Protected 6.73% N/A  
Total Area Protected 4,390,553.49

YUKON
  Area Protected (hectares) Total # of
Protected Areas
Terrestrial (ha) Marine (ha)
Provincially Administered
 2,116,244 0 18
Parks Canada Agency
 3,607,800 7,800 3
Environment Canada
 5,483 0 1
Total Biome Area Protected 5,729,527 7,800 22
% of Biome Protected 11.85% N/A  
Total Area Protected 5,737,326.96

Data Publication and Limitation Notes

While every attempt has been made to provide current data from each jurisdiction, changes on the ground are ongoing and the accuracy of the summations cannot be guaranteed. Each jurisdiction should be contacted individually if there are any questions or concerns.

The methodology used here is unique in that jurisdictions provide their digital geospatial databases of protected areas, as far as privacy concerns allow, and queries are applied to the final compilation. For this and other reasons, the results here are not directly comparable to values reported in various products from previous years. We hope this more transparent procedure will ensure a more consistent level of accuracy among jurisdictions and an improved overall national result.

* Canada is a signatory to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), an international treaty that requires, among other things, reporting on protected areas. Therefore, the CCEA follows the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) definition of protected areas and reports only areas that fall under that definition. The definition, as found in the IUCN Guidelines for Applying Protected Area Management Categories, is:

A protected area is: “A clearly defined geographical space, recognised, dedicated and managed, through legal or other effective means, to achieve the long-term conservation of nature with associated ecosystem services and cultural values”.

Contact the CARTS Technical Team via the CCEA Secretariat if you have questions, concerns, or any other comments.

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