According to the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC), there are currently 543 plant and animal species at risk in Canada.
COSEWIC meets at least once a year to assess the status of wildlife species. Since 2004, COSEWIC submits its annual report to the federal Minister of the Environment in late summer. The annual report includes all assessment results for wildlife species that have been assessed since its last report.
Wildlife species assessed by COSEWIC as Extirpated, Endangered, Threatened or Special Concern will be considered for legal protection and recovery (or management) under the SARA. Based in part on COSEWIC’s status assessment, the government may decide to add a wildlife species to SARA’s List of Wildlife Species at Risk, to not add a wildlife species to the List of Wildlife Species at Risk, or to refer the matter back to COSEWIC for further information or consideration.
The following information is from the Species At Risk Act (SARA).
Endangered
- Acadian Flycatcher Barn Owl (Eastern population)
- Burrowing Owl
- Eskimo Curlew
- Greater Sage-Grouse urophasianus subspecies
- Henslow’s Sparrow
- Horned Lark strigata subspecies
- King Rail
- Kirtland’s Warbler
- Loggerhead Shrike migrans subspecies
- Mountain Plover
- Northern Bobwhite
- Piping Plover circumcinctus subspecies
- Piping Plover melodus subspecies
- Prothonotary Warbler
- Red Crossbill percna subspecies
- Roseate Tern
- Sage Thrasher
- Spotted Owl caurina subspecies
- Western Screech-Owl macfarlanei subspecies
- White-headed Woodpecker
- Whooping Crane
- Williamson’s Sapsucker
- Yellow-breasted Chat auricollis subspecies (British Columbia population)
Threatened
- Hooded Warbler
- Barn Swallow
- Eastern Meadowlark
- Least Bittern
- Loggerhead Shrike excubitorides subspecies
- Marbled Murrelet
- Northern Goshawk laingi subspecies
- Peregrine Falcon anatum subspecies
- Pink-footed Shearwater
- Ross’s Gull
- Short-tailed AlbatrossSprague’s Pipit
Special Concern
- Ancient Murrelet
- Barn Owl (Western population)
- Barrow’s Goldeneye (Eastern population)
- Bicknell’s Thrush
- Cerulean Warbler
- Ferruginous Hawk
- Flammulated Owl
- Great Blue Heron fannini subspecies
- Harlequin Duck (Eastern population)
- Ivory Gull
- Lewis’s Woodpecker
- Long-billed Curlew
- Louisiana Waterthrush
- Peregrine Falcon pealei subspecies
- Peregrine Falcon tundrius subspecies
- Red-headed Woodpecker
- Red-shouldered Hawk
- Savannah Sparrow princeps subspecies
- Short-eared Owl
- Western Screech-Owl kennicottii subspecies
- Yellow Rail
- Yellow-breasted Chat virens subspecies
