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Next meeting
COSEWIC’s next scheduled wildlife species assessment meeting will be held in November 2025.
About COSEWIC
COSEWIC assesses the status of wild species, subspecies, varieties, or other important units of biological diversity, considered to be at risk in Canada. To do so, COSEWIC uses scientific, Aboriginal traditional and community knowledge provided by experts from governments, academia and other organizations. Summaries of assessments are currently available to the public on the COSEWIC website and will be submitted to the Federal Minister of the Environment and Climate Change in fall 2024 for listing consideration under the Species at Risk Act (SARA). At that time, the status reports and status appraisal summaries will be publicly available on the Species at Risk Public Registry.
At its most recent meeting, COSEWIC assessed 12 wildlife species in various COSEWIC risk categories, including 5 Endangered, 2 Threatened, and 3 Special Concern, and 1 Extirpated (i.e. no longer found in the wild in Canada). In addition to these wildlife species that are in COSEWIC risk categories, COSEWIC assessed 1 as Not at Risk.
COSEWIC comprises members from each provincial and territorial government wildlife agency, four federal entities (Canadian Wildlife Service, Parks Canada Agency, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and the Canadian Museum of Nature), four Non-government Science Members, Co-chairs of the Species Specialist and the Aboriginal Traditional Knowledge Subcommittees, and two early career scientists.
Definition of COSEWIC terms and status categories:
Wildlife Species: A species, subspecies, variety, or geographically or genetically distinct population of animal, plant or other organism, other than a bacterium or virus, that is wild by nature and is either native to Canada or has extended its range into Canada without human intervention and has been present in Canada for at least 50 years.
Extinct (X): A wildlife species that no longer exists.
Extirpated (XT): A wildlife species that no longer exists in the wild in Canada, but exists elsewhere.
Endangered (E): A wildlife species facing imminent extirpation or extinction.
Threatened (T): A wildlife species that is likely to become Endangered if nothing is done to reverse the factors leading to its extirpation or extinction.
Special Concern (SC): A wildlife species that may become Threatened or Endangered because of a combination of biological characteristics and identified threats.
Not at Risk (NAR): A wildlife species that has been evaluated and found to be not at risk of extinction given the current circumstances.
Data Deficient (DD): A category that applies when the available information is insufficient (a) to resolve a wildlife species’ eligibility for assessment or (b) to permit an assessment of the wildlife species’ risk of extinction.
Species at Risk: A wildlife species that has been assessed as Extirpated, Endangered, Threatened or Special Concern.
| Dr. David Lee Chair, COSEWIC Telephone: 514-366-9574 |
For general inquiries: COSEWIC Secretariat Canadian Wildlife Service Environment and Climate Change Canada 351 St. Joseph Blvd, 14th floor Gatineau QC K1A 0H3 www.cosewic.ca |
| For inquiries on amphibians and reptiles (Massasauga, Snapping Turtle): Dr. Sara Ashpole St. Lawrence University Telephone: 315-229-5890 |
For inquiries on arthropods (Macropis Cuckoo Bee): Jennifer M. Heron |
| For inquiries on birds (Snowy Owl): Dr. Louise Blight Procellaria Research & Consulting and University of Victoria |
For inquiries on echinodermata (ad hoc): (Sunflower Sea Star): Dr. Arne Mooers Simon Fraser University Telephone (1): 778-782-3979 Telephone (2): 604-358-2313 |
| For inquiries on freshwater fishes (Bull Trout, Pugnose Minnow): Dr. Margaret F. Docker University of Manitoba Telephone : 204-474-8831 |
For inquiries on marine fishes (Greenland Shark): Dr. Bruce Leaman Telephone: 250-510-3625 |
| For inquiries on mosses and lichens (Cupped Fringe Lichen, Roell's Brotherella Moss): Dr. André Arsenault Natural Resources Canada Telephone: 709-638-2365 |
For inquiries on molluscs (Big-tooth Whitelip): Dr. Dwayne Lepitzki Telephone : 403-762-0864 |
| For inquiries on Aboriginal Traditional Knowledge: Nathan Cardinal |