Question Period Note: Aquatic Ecosystems Restoration Fund

What is the Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration Fund?

• Aquatic ecosystems are essential contributors to biodiversity and ecological productivity, and their protection is core to my department’s mandate.
• The Aquatic Ecosystems Restoration Fund, launched on July 19, 2022, as part of the renewal of the Oceans Protection Plan, will provide $75 million over the next five years to support restoration projects on all coasts.
• This initiative will help conserve and restore aquatic life and habitats, address root causes of impacts to aquatic environments, and engage Indigenous and local communities in restoration activities.

• The Coastal Restoration Fund (CRF) was a $75 million five-year program launched in 2017 as part of the Oceans Protection Plan’s (OPP) efforts to preserve and restore marine ecosystems; the CRF provided funding for over 60 projects on all coasts. The CRF program sunsetted in March 2022.
• Budget 2022 announced $2 billion in funding over nine years for the renewal of the OPP; this includes $75 million over five years for the Aquatic Ecosystems Restoration Fund (AERF). Through contribution funding, AERF projects will address impacts on Canadian coastal aquatic environments (e.g. climate change, new contaminants, algae bloom, agricultural runoff).
• This new program will support DFO’s commitment to continue to protect and restore our oceans and coasts by:
o contributing to strategic planning and addressing restoration priorities;
o supporting restoration and rehabilitation of aquatic habitats and their long-term sustainability;
o educating the public on the impacts of human behaviour on aquatic habitats;
o supporting co-benefits of aquatic restoration activities (such as nature based solutions to climate change); and,
o encouraging and building local community capacity.
• The program will support projects on all of Canada’s coasts, with an expanded geographic scope to include coastal and upstream inland aquatic restoration.
• To meet its objectives, the program will engage Indigenous organizations, non-profit and community-based organizations, as well academic researchers and institutions and support coordinated approaches for projects.
• Given the success of the CRF program, the AERF will build on the existing framework and will expand its approach to help address impacts to coastal and marine environments on Canada’s coasts.
• The program will focus on regional priority areas that have the greatest strategic value, prioritizing regional activities with the greatest benefit to specific coastal ecosystems threats, and activities that address the root causes of impacts on coastal areas.
• The AERF is committed to engaging Indigenous groups in the protection of Canada's coastal areas.

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