Question Period Note: Polar Bears

Polar Bears

• Polar bear management in Canada is a shared responsibility of federal, provincial and territorial governments, and of wildlife management boards that derive their mandate from land claim agreements.

• While the population as a whole is currently healthy and abundant, we know that climate change, and associated sea ice loss, poses a serious threat to the species long-term survival.

• Climate change is one of the major challenges of our time, and our government is taking action to reduce emissions and grow our economy in a sustainable way.

SPECIFIC INITIATIVES
o In 2015, Canada, together with the other countries where polar bears live, completed a Circumpolar Action Plan to address the threats to polar bears.

o The polar bear is listed as a species of “Special Concern” under Canada’s Species at Risk Act, and a management plan for the species is under development in close collaboration with provinces and territories and wildlife management boards.

STATUS

• The consensus of scientists and the Inuit is that polar bear populations in most parts of their range in Canada are healthy. Some subpopulations have increased over the past 10 years, while others have declined or remained stable.
• The populations that have declined are generally located in the southern portion of the species range and the best available scientific evidence suggests that the declines are being driven by sea ice reductions caused by climate change.
• The Canadian management system responds to both scientific data and Indigenous Knowledge, and as such, polar bears and their habitat will continue to be monitored and studied, and management decisions, such as the number of bears harvested each year, will continue to be made in the context of a changing Arctic environment.

INTERNATIONAL OBLIGATIONS

• Canada has signed bi-lateral agreements with the US and Greenland to coordinate the management of polar bear management units that straddle our countries’ borders.
• In addition, Canada and the US played lead roles in the finalization of a Circumpolar Action Plan (CAP) for polar bear with Norway, Greenland and Russia (i.e., the other signatories to the 1973 Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears). The Plan, approved in September 2015, focuses on issues that are best coordinated internationally, such as best management practices for shipping, offshore drilling and managing human-bear conflict. The CAP represents the most significant means by which the five Range States can advance polar bear conservation throughout the circumpolar Arctic.
• Implementation of the CAP is undertaken by a number of working groups dedicated to specific topics of Traditional Ecological Knowledge, Human-Bear Conflicts, Communications, Wildlife Enforcement and Trade. An update on work will be tabled at the 2020 Meeting of the Parties in Svalbard, Norway.
• Polar bear is currently listed on Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). CITES is a legally binding agreement, which aims to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival. CITES lists wild species in one of three Appendices, depending on the level of international trade controls required. The species listed in CITES Appendix I are threatened with extinction and may not be imported or exported for commercial purposes (e.g. blue whale). Appendix II includes species, which although not necessarily now threatened with extinction may become so unless international trade is regulated. Export permits are required for all species listed in Appendix II. Prior to issuing an export permit, the exporting country is required to make a non-detriment finding, which is an assessment demonstrating that trade will not impact the survival of the species in the wild. A critical component of a non-detriment finding is demonstrating that harvest is sustainable. This determination is made by the CITES Scientific Authority of Canada based on the best available information. The requirements under Appendix II apply to polar bear.
• Canada is the only Range State which has international commercial trade in polar bears. Polar bear exports are economically important to Indigenous people. In order to ensure Canada’s ability to continue to trade in polar bear, we must be able to demonstrate to the international community that the harvest of polar bears is sustainably managed and that international trade will not impact the survival of the species in the wild. As determined by the CITES Animals Committee in 2015, and by the most recent assessment by COSEWIC in 2018, the species is not at risk from trade. The CITES Scientific Authority of Canada has published a Standing Non-detriment Finding report for polar bear, which considers best available information on population status, harvest levels, control of harvest, protection and threats. This document is updated as new information becomes available, and forms the basis for issuing permits under CITES for the Canadian export of polar products. An update of the polar bear non-detriment finding is currently underway.
• Previous attempts in 2010 and 2013 to list Polar bears to Appendix I under CITES, were unsuccessful. An Appendix I listing would have banned commercial trade in polar bear products. Polar bear remains on CITES Appendix II, with trade continuing under a robust permitting system.

DOMESTIC PROTECTIONS

• The polar bear was listed as a species of Special Concern in Canada in November 2011. The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) re-affirmed this assessment in November 2018.
• A national management plan is now under development in collaboration with provinces and territories, as well as wildlife management boards, which derive their mandate from land claims agreements.
• Once complete, the national plan will be comprised of six provincial and territorial plans plus a federal addition. It will identify the threats facing the species and actions underway to ensure long-term survival.

Question Period notes as provided by the Department to the Minister’s Office