New agreement shows promise but lacks clear targets
MONTREAL, June 30, 2026 — The David Suzuki Foundation is pleased to see movement to advance caribou recovery in Quebec, as reflected by the agreement announced today between the province and the federal government. The federal government also committed $15 million over five years to Quebec’s Indigenous communities for caribou recovery; a move supported by the province.
“It’s great to see movement on the caribou file after such a long stalemate. This shows the potential power of the federal Species at Risk Act to advance recovery. It’s also great to see that Quebec recognizes the role of Indigenous leadership in land governance, which is often how on-the-ground caribou recovery initiatives like forest restoration occur,” said Rachel Plotkin, the Foundation’s Boreal Program Manager.
“We hope Quebec can lean into the regenerative economy, as forest restoration activities require forest ecologists, GIS analysts, nursery technicians, Indigenous Guardians, heavy equipment operators, restoration crews, road decommissioning specialists, wildlife biologists and more. And we hope the province will lean away from superficial measures such as relying on penning and predator control — approaches that are often used to enable ongoing habitat loss while keeping populations alive. It is clear that habitat protection and restoration are the key pathways to caribou recovery.
“It is encouraging to see that the agreement links caribou recovery measures to the Kuming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework’s restoration, conservation and species-at-risk targets, and also recognizes that habitat protection can contribute to the fight against climate change. It would be wonderful for Quebec play a leadership role on this front,” Plotkin added.
The new agreement requires comprehensive monitoring and provides $25 million to the province from 2026 to 2031, contingent on expenditure and annual reporting. It does not establish measurable targets or timelines for habitat restoration or protection measures.
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Background information
Quebec is home to approximately 15 per cent of boreal caribou in Canada. The federal recovery strategy for boreal woodland caribou identifies six caribou ranges, three of which — the Val-d’Or, Charlevoix and Pipmuacan herds — have been assessed as unlikely to survive in the absence of significant recovery measures. The strategy also addresses the Gaspésie mountain caribou population.
In 2016, Quebec committed to developing a habitat management plan under the federal government’s Boreal Caribou Recovery Strategy but has since postponed issuing a comprehensive strategy. In 2020, the Val-d’Or herd was fenced into an enclosure to separate the caribou from predators; in 2022 the Chalevoix herd was also enclosed.
In 2024, then-Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada Steven Guilbeault recommended to cabinet the invocation of a federal emergency order under the Species at Risk Act to safeguard the Val-d’Or, Charlevoix and Pipmuacan herds. The emergency order was approved and consultations began on habitat-protection measures, but the federal government remained engaged in potential collaborative measures with the province to avert the discord that would ensure from a perceived overstepping of its jurisdiction.
For more information, please contact:
Stefanie Carmichael, David Suzuki Foundation: scarmichael@davidsuzuki.org
The David Suzuki Foundation (DavidSuzuki.org | @DavidSuzukiFdn) is a leading Canadian environmental non-profit organization, founded in 1990. We operate in English and French, with offices in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal. We collaborate with all people in Canada, including First Nations leadership and communities, governments, businesses and individuals to find solutions to create a sustainable Canada through scientific research, traditional ecological knowledge, communications and public engagement, and innovative policy and legal solutions. Our mission is to protect nature’s diversity and the well-being of all life, now and for the future.