Protected Areas Data

 

Trends in land and marine areas protected in Canada, 1990-2011
YearTerrestrial area protected
(km2)		Percent terrestrial area protectedMarine area protected
(km2)		Percent of marine area protected
1990
522 181
5.23
18 586
0.26
1991
522 679
5.23
18 612
0.26
1992
523 202
5.24
18 972
0.27
1993
533 799
5.35
19 223
0.27
1994
538 036
5.39
19 230
0.27
1995
577 740
5.79
21 009
0.30
1996
596 823
5.98
21 867
0.31
1997
608 453
6.09
21 883
0.31
1998
636 171
6.37
23 895
0.34
1999
647 819
6.49
23 895
0.34
2000
659 628
6.61
24 021
0.34
2001
718 129
7.19
24 529
0.35
2002
741 655
7.43
24 752
0.35
2003
800 176
8.01
28 092
0.40
2004
810 000
8.11
30 492
0.43
2005
839 393
8.41
32 223
0.45
2006
844 772
8.46
32 509
0.46
2007
869 861
8.71
32 540
0.46
2008
915 531
9.17
39 817
0.56
2009
968 910
9.70
40 372
0.57
2010
976 338
9.78
49 593
0.70
2011
992 627
9.94
49 593
0.70

Note: Freshwater areas are included in the terrestrial area protected. The land area of Canada is 9 984 670 km2 and its marine territory is approximately 7.1 million km2. Protected areas that lack information on creation date have been allocated to a date earlier than 1990. Overlaps between protected areas are not corrected for in this analysis.

 

Canada's protected area by IUCN category, 2011
CategoryArea protected
(km2)
IA
10 572
IB
341 153
II
532 603
III
71 144
IV
22 712
V
1 780
VI
44 517
Unclassified
16 318

Note: Terrestrial (including freshwater) and marine areas included. Category definitions are derived from the IUCN’s standards based on management objectives. Categories I through IV are considered “strictly protected.” Unclassified areas are recognized as protected but have not yet been assigned a numbered category. Overlaps between protected areas are corrected for in Quebec, but not in other provinces and territories.

Source for Categories: Canadian Council on Ecological Areas (2008) Canadian Guidebook for the Application of IUCNProtected Areas Categories.

Download data file (Excel/CSV; 792 B)

 

Total land protected by province and territory, 2011
Province or territoryProtected area
(km2)		Provincial area
(km2)		Percent protected
British Columbia
135 840
944 735
14.38
Alberta
82 140
661 848
12.41
Yukon Territory
57 295
482 443
11.88
Ontario
109 922
1 076 395
10.21
Manitoba
65 952
647 797
10.18
Nunavut 
208 588
2 093 190
9.97
Northwest Territories
120 145
1 346 106
8.93
Quebec
134 125
1 513 879
8.86
Nova Scotia
4 598
55 284
8.32
Saskatchewan
51 949
651 036
7.98
Newfoundland and Labrador
18 535
405 212
4.57
New Brunswick
2 234
72 908
3.06
Prince Edward Island
159
5 660
2.80
Canada
991 482
9 984 670
9.93

Note: Marine areas are excluded from the provincial area as well as from the protected area estimate. Overlaps between protected areas are corrected for in Quebec, but not in other provinces; due to this correction the total protected area of Canada varies slightly from the table "Trends in land and marine areas protected in Canada, 1990-2011".

 

Total area protected by ecozones+, 2011
Ecozone+ codeEcozone+ nameEcozone+ area
(km2)		Area protected
(km2)		Percent of ecozone+protected
1
Arctic
2 491 008
295 857
11.88
2
Atlantic Maritime
205 429
11 025
5.37
3
Boreal Cordillera
444 651
73 109
16.44
4
Boreal Plains
690 588
57 121
8.27
5
Boreal Shield
1 764 053
152 529
8.65
6
Hudson Plains
348 016
45 213
12.99
7
Mixedwood Plain
118 924
1 940
1.63
8
Montane Cordillera
423 658
78 802
18.60
9
Newfoundland Boreal
111 729
8 697
7.78
10
Pacific Maritime
204 768
38 720
18.91
11
Prairie
460 246
27 418
5.96
12
Taiga Cordillera
339 393
54 519
16.06
13
Taiga Plains
584 709
36 551
6.25
14
Taiga Shield
1 317 096
93 902
7.13
15
Western Interior Basin
56 634
5 208
9.20
100
Gulf of Maine and Scotian Shelf
379 138
2 461
0.65
101
Newfoundland and Labrador Shelves
638 726
433
0.07
102
Hudson & James Bay & Foxe Basin
1 180 313
9 330
0.79
103
Strait of Georgia
14 051
626
4.45
104
North Coast & Hecate Strait
310 077
11 625
3.75
105
Beaufort Sea
426 771
2 993
0.70
106
Gulf of St Lawrence & St Lawrence Estuary
248 427
3 886
1.56
107
Canadian Arctic Archipelago
1 730 670
17 783
1.03
108
Vancouver Island West Coast
83 964
775
0.92
500
Great Lakes
91 514
10 959
11.97

Note: Ecozones are broad areas with distinctive biophysical characteristics and similar sets of species.