Domestic Polar Bear Actions Underway

National Polar Bear Roundtable

Photo of a polar bear on an ice floe, having finished eating a seal it caught. The water is in the foreground, and there are mountains in the background. The polar bear is looking to the left.
Photo: Garry Donaldson © Environment Canada

As the first of its kind in Canada, the 2009 National Polar Bear roundtable (PDF; 113 KB) brought together parties with a management or conservation role in protecting Canada’s polar bear.

Since the Roundtable meeting, Canada has taken a number of actions for polar bear conservation:

  • In October 2009, the Government of Canada along with the Governments of Nunavut and Greenland, signed a Memorandum of Understanding that will promote closer cooperation and shared management actions to preserve the Baffin Bay and Kane Basin polar bear populations.
  • In December 2009, Canada published a non-detriment finding report banning export from the Baffin Bay population until harvest is reduced to sustainable levels.
  • In January 2010, Canada met with the Quebec, Labrador and Nunavut governments and Inuit organizations to discuss joint management of the Davis Strait polar bear sub-population.
  • Environment Canada is in the midst of national consultations to consider listing polar bears as a Species of Special Concern on Canada’s Species at Risk Act.  A final listing decision is expected in spring 2011.
  • Canada met with U.S. counterparts in November 2009 for the first time since signing of a Memorandum of Understanding in May 2008. The meeting focused on science, Aboriginal Traditional Knowledge, human-bear conflicts and subpopulation boundary shifts. 
  • Environment Canada, working with other members of the Polar Bear Administrative Committee, is drafting a National Polar Bear Conservation Strategy. This will be a tool to improve inter-jurisdiction cooperation of efforts related to population monitoring, research and harvest management for shared polar bear populations.

Top of Page

Establishing Protected Areas

A polar bear mother standing near its cubs cubs, on a stony beach.
Photo: © Environment Canada

In cooperation with territorial and provincial governments and wildlife management boards in the territories, Environment Canada establishes protected areas for wildlife species. For example, across the North, there are National Parks, National Wildlife Areas, Marine Wildlife Areas, Migratory Bird Sanctuaries, and provincial and territorial parks that protect some terrestrial habitat.

Protection of terrestrial habitat important to Polar Bears occurs through Canada’s National Parks, National and Marine Wildlife Areas, and through provincial and territorial parks and efforts are underway that will protect even more habitat (see map).

Key federal acts supporting the establishment of protected areas include:

  • Canada Wildlife Act -- establishes National Wildlife Areas and Marine Wildlife Areas
  • Canada National Parks Act -- establishes National Parks

Top of Page

Harvest Management

A photograph of two Inuit hunters, standing, looking off into the distance at an Arctic sunset. The landscape is snowy, and the hunters, who are in the foreground and facing away from the camera, are dressed in warm parkas. One of the hunters is holding a tall staff or tool. There is also an empty sled in the foreground, which is attached by line to a snow machine in the mid-distance. Photo: Eric Loring © Environment Canada
Photo: Eric Loring © Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami

Polar bears are culturally, spiritually and economically important in the North.

In Canada the hunting and harvest of polar bears is restricted to Aboriginal people or sport hunters guided by Aboriginal people who harvest by traditional means and in accordance with sound conservation practices based on the best available scientific data.

The management of the harvest in Canada is consistent with the 1973 International Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears.  Responsible jurisdictions manage the polar bear harvest to ensure the sustainability of polar bear populations. 

Quotas are set that take into account recommendations from federal provincial and territorial scientists, university specialists as well as United States researchers based in Alaska.  All quotas are met with an exceptionally high level of compliance. Problem or nuisance polar bears that must be dispatched in the interest of safety and bears hunted by tourists are all accommodated within these quotas.

Top of Page

Human-bear Interactions

Two Inuit people examine the footprints of a polar bear in the mud. The paw print is the central focus of the photo, with an outstretched hand from each person comparing their hand size to the polar bear’s paw size.
Photo: Eric Loring © Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami

Encounters between polar bears and humans are becoming more frequent, and such interactions are a concern for both people and bears.

Interactions between humans and polar bears may result in the destruction of property, dangers to people and dangers to bears due to human-caused harassment or mortality in defence of life or property.

Increased interaction between humans and polar bears is already occurring in northern communities and incidences will continue to increase due to expanding human populations, industrial development and tourism. In some areas, an increase in the number of nutritionally stressed bears on land due to retreating sea ice will result in more bear human-bear interactions.

Canada is a recognized leader for the management of human-bear interactions, particularly as it relates to polar bears.  Environment Canada is working with its international partners to develop a comprehensive strategy to manage such conflicts. Some existing strategies include active deterrence, reduction of attractants (i.e. accessible garbage), and community education and outreach.  Two specific opportunities identified to develop human-bear interaction strategies were the workshop in November 2009 in Canada, where preliminary work was done, and the upcoming workshop planned in Alaska in 2010.