Schedule 1 Amendments: American Marten and 18 Species

Summary#

This is the Order Amending Schedule 1 to the Species at Risk Act (American Marten, Newfoundland Population and 18 Other Wildlife Species). It updates the official list under the Species at Risk Act by reclassifying and renaming a total of 19 species. The Order came into force on February 26, 2026.

What it does#

• Reclassifies some species so their legal risk category changes:
  • Down-lists three species from endangered to threatened: Dusky Dune Moth (Copablepharon longipenne); Eastern Foxsnake (Pantherophis vulpinus), Carolinian population; and Eastern Foxsnake, Great Lakes / St. Lawrence population.
  • Down-lists four species from threatened to special concern: American Marten (Martes americana atrata), Newfoundland population; False Rue‑anemone (Enemion biternatum); Victorin’s Gentian (Gentianopsis virgata ssp. victorinii); and Skillet Clubtail (Gomphurus ventricosus).
• Renames or corrects the English and/or French common or scientific names for 12 other species so they match the latest Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) assessments. These name changes do not by themselves change protection levels.
• Changes what kinds of federal conservation steps are required:
  • Species listed as endangered or threatened keep the same automatic prohibitions (for example, protections against killing or damaging nests on federal lands) and require recovery strategies and action plans.
  • Species listed as special concern no longer receive those automatic prohibitions and instead require a management plan focused on conservation measures.
• Administrative and paperwork work follows the Order: updating recovery documents and species files. Estimated federal update costs are about $637,000–$700,000 (undiscounted), with a net discounted cost over 10 years of about $576,000–$639,000. Some enforcement costs may be avoided but were not fully quantified.

Who's affected#

• Federal departments involved in implementation and enforcement, notably Environment and Climate Change Canada, Parks Canada, and Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
• People and organizations in places where the species live: provincial and territorial governments, local land managers, park managers, conservation groups, and landowners in provinces such as Newfoundland and Labrador, Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, British Columbia, and the Northwest Territories, depending on each species’ range.
• Indigenous communities whose traditional territories overlap with the ranges of the species named. The government contacted 984 Indigenous contacts across 239 groups during consultation.
• For the 12 species that are only being renamed, the change is largely administrative and unlikely to be noticed by most people.

If it’s not clear whether a particular activity is affected (for example, a local development or a specific harvesting practice), people should check the Species at Risk public registry or contact the responsible federal department.

Why it matters#

• The Order changes which legal protections apply to certain species. For four species moved to special concern, automatic federal prohibitions (such as offences for killing or disturbing the species or its nests on federal land) and the duty to write recovery strategies are removed; instead, management plans are required. That can change what activities are permissible and how conservation efforts are organized in practice.
• Down-listing some species to threatened does not reduce their automatic protections under federal law; it mostly affects timelines for planning documents and how resources are prioritized.
• The changes reflect the latest scientific assessments from COSEWIC. They aim to align legal listings with current science and let governments focus recovery resources where they are most needed.
• There was some public and Indigenous feedback during consultation (period: December 16, 2022 to May 31, 2023). A few groups opposed specific down-listings (notably concerns about the Skillet Clubtail and the Dusky Dune Moth) because they felt the available data are uncertain. The Order proceeded on the basis of COSEWIC’s assessments and the Department’s review.
• For everyday people, the most direct effects are local: changes to planning and conservation actions where these species live, possible changes in enforcement priorities, and updated scientific and common names used in reports and notices.