Government of Canada takes steps to protect critical habitat of Copper Redhorse

Ontario – A key part of protecting aquatic species at risk is ensuring their critical habitat is also protected. The Government of Canada recognizes that we must safeguard these vital areas—including breeding sites, nursery areas, or feeding grounds—to help our at-risk species recover and survive for future generations.

The Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, the Honourable Bernadette Jordan, and the Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, announced the Government of Canada is seeking public feedback on protecting proposed critical habitat for the Copper Redhorse in Quebec. Public participation in comment periods is an important step to ensure that we’re protecting species for the benefit of diverse ecosystems and the future of Canadians.

A Critical Habitat Order protects the functions, features and attributes of a species’ critical habitat in specific geographical locations that are essential to its survival and recovery. Critical habitat may include areas where species give birth, hatch, feed or raise their young. When critical habitat is protected under the Species at Risk Act, activities may be permitted on a case-by-case basis provided that any proposed activity in critical habitat does not jeopardize the survival or recovery of the species. A Critical Habitat Order applies to any ongoing or future human activities that could result in the destruction of any part of the identified critical habitat of an at-risk species.