Wildlife Area Boundary Amendments

Summary#

The Regulations Amending the Wildlife Area Regulations: SOR/2024-229 change how three National Wildlife Areas are described in federal rules. They remove three very small roadside parcels (totalling 682.8 m2) from the Big Creek National Wildlife Area and replace complicated boundary text for two other NWAs with simpler, survey-based descriptions. The regulations came into force on November 22, 2024.

What it does#

• Removes three narrow roadside parcels (total 682.8 m2) from Big Creek National Wildlife Area in Ontario so those parcels can be transferred to the Corporation of Norfolk County. The parcels are a tiny share of the NWA (about 0.0001% of the NWA’s 7 700 000 m2).
• Replaces long, technical boundary wording for Big Glace Bay Lake National Wildlife Area (Nova Scotia) with a shorter description that refers to a registered survey plan and lists the total area (395.38 hectares (977 acres)).
• Replaces the complex boundary description for the Jolicure Unit of Tintamarre National Wildlife Area (New Brunswick) with a simplified description that refers to a registered survey plan and lists the total area (1 600 hectares).
• These are administrative changes: the simplified descriptions do not change the real-world boundaries of the two Atlantic sites, and the Big Creek change reflects existing road and bridge infrastructure.

Who's affected#

• Residents and visitors to the Long Point area and users of the Long Point access road. The bridge replacement over Big Creek required the land encroachment that these amendments formalize.
• Corporation of Norfolk County, which will take title to the delisted roadside parcels.
• Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Canadian Wildlife Service, who manage National Wildlife Areas and will use the simpler boundary text for enforcement and planning.
• Local Indigenous communities that were contacted about the Big Creek parcel change, including Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation and Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation (and eight other First Nations in the Southern Ontario Treaties area). The department reported no responses to consultation letters.
• General public and visitors to Big Glace Bay Lake National Wildlife Area and Tintamarre National Wildlife Area — clearer boundary descriptions should make it easier to know where protected areas begin and end.

Why it matters#

• The change lets the county secure long-term access for the Long Point community by transferring the small pieces of land that the new bridge and its wildlife barriers now occupy. The encroachment agreement that allowed the bridge work would otherwise have needed renewal (it was set to expire on December 31, 2024).
• Simplified boundary descriptions make the regulations easier to read and enforce. That helps people know where they can and cannot go, and helps managers and enforcement officers do their jobs.
• The government says the delisted roadside parcels have low conservation value and the change is expected to have no meaningful environmental effect. The area removed is very small — 682.8 m2, less than 0.0001% of the Big Creek NWA.