A Priority Place is an area of high biodiversity value that is seen as a distinct place with a common ecological theme by the people who live and work there. As part of the Pan-Canadian approach to transforming Species at Risk conservation in Canada, a total of 11 Priority Places were affirmed by federal, provincial, and territorial governments. One additional priority place was affirmed in 2024. The places selected have significant biodiversity, concentrations of species at risk, and opportunities to advance conservation efforts. In each Priority Place, the federal and provincial or territorial governments are working with Indigenous Peoples, partners, and stakeholders to develop conservation implementation plans. This dataset displays the geographic area covered by each of the 12 Priority Places using the best available information from the Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS). Boundary information for each Priority Place was provided by its respective CWS regional office.The federal government, in collaboration with the provinces and territories, has agreed to the implementation of the Pan-Canadian Approach to Transforming Species at Risk Conservation in Canada. This new approach shifts from a single-species approach to conservation to one that focuses on multiple species and ecosystems. This enables conservation partners to work together to achieve better outcomes for species at risk. These 12 Priority Places are complemented by a suite of Community-Nominated Priority Places (CNPP), identified through an open call for applications.

The Canadian National Wetlands Inventory (CNWI) is a comprehensive, publicly available national geodatabase developed by the Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) of Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), in collaboration with federal, provincial, and territorial governments, academia, Indigenous groups, and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). It consists of the best available wetland mapping data, along with its metadata, published in a standardized manner.The CNWI is continuously updated through the compilation of existing data and the acquisition of new high-resolution datasets to address coverage gaps, with an emphasis on peatlands and coastal wetlands, which are key habitats for greenhouse gas (GHG) sequestration. ECCC plans to use the CNWI to train and validate machine-learning algorithms to delineate and classify wetlands at a national scale and to measure trends over time. This will directly support Canada’s Nature-Based Climate Solutions by informing biodiversity conservation, guiding climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies, and supporting GHG emissions reporting.The CNWI was initially released in February 2024 with 13 source datasets. In June 2025, the Inventory was updated to include 14 additional datasets. Collectively, these 27 source datasets comprise approximately 12.1 million wetland polygon features, covering a total area of roughly 640,000 square kilometers across ten provinces and territories (BC, MB, NB, NL, NS, PE, ON, QC, SK, YT). These source datasets were cross-walked into a standardized CNWI classification schema, which is based on two foundational documents: the Canadian Wetland Classification System (National Wetlands Working Group, 1997) and the Canadian Wetland Inventory Data Model (2016).The CNWI Schema contains five major wetland classes (Bog, Fen, Swamp, Marsh, and Shallow/Open Water) and eight subclasses (Rich Fen, Poor Fen, Organic Swamp, Mineral Swamp, Organic Marsh, Mineral Marsh, Shallow Water, and Open Water). Non-conforming wetlands can be categorized into three groups: Peatland, Mixed, and Unclassified. For more information on the CNWI and the related database, please refer to the CNWI User Manual and other supporting documents that accompany this publication. The User Manual provides detailed information on how data are collected, managed, and distributed to meet CNWI data standards.

Wildlife Management Units are used for a number of wildlife management purposes, like indicating the areas of Ontario where hunting open seasons and harvest quotas apply. Wildlife Management Unit boundaries are regulated under the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act - Ontario Regulation 663/98, Part 6 as amended.

The Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Unit dataset is comprised of the polygons representing Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Units in Alberta. Alberta Public Safety and Emergency Services, Government of Alberta, manages the Fish and Wildlife enforcement services to provide the public and other government departments' information regarding the locations of Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Units throughout the province.

The Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Districts dataset is comprised of the polygons representing Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Districts in Alberta. Alberta Public Safety and Emergency Services, Government of Alberta, manages the Fish and Wildlife enforcement services to provide the public and other government departments' information regarding the locations of Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Districts throughout the province.

The Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Regions dataset is comprised of the polygons representing Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Regions in Alberta. Alberta Public Safety and Emergency Services, Government of Alberta, manages the Fish and Wildlife enforcement services to provide the public and other government departments' information regarding the locations of Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Regions throughout the province.

The Wildlife Management Unit Biologist Contact Boundaries dataset is comprised of all the polygons that represent the Wildlife Management Unit Biologist Contact Boundaries within the Province of Alberta. The dataset is to help determine which Biologist is responsible for each Wildlife Management Unit. Please refer to the metadata included with the data for full entity attribute information.

Habitat Protection and management are the primary focus of the Fish and Wildlife Development fund. This data includes lands used for management of habitat within the Province.Saskatchewan Environment's Fish and Wildlife Development Fund Lands (FWDF) derived from ISC's (1:20,000) surface layer.As anglers, hunters and trappers in Saskatchewan, you recognize that healthy and diverse wildlife populations are an indication of a healthy ecosystem. Your responsible conservation ethic and love of nature are making positive and vital contributions to the management and preservation of wildlife and wildlife habitat. The revenue (30 per cent) from all fur, angling and hunting licences you purchase, is used to manage, preserve and enhance fish and wildlife habitat.The fund has identified three fish and wildlife management goals:-Maintain natural habitat through conservation, biodiversity, land management and awareness of rare species.-Maintain and grow sustainable fish populations and their habitat.-Maintain game populations and ensure accessible hunting.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada and Environment and Climate Change Canada (Northern Contaminants program) have been working with Nunavut community Hunters and Trappers Organizations and theNunavut Wildlife Management Board consistently since 1980 to collect samples from harvested ringed seals. The majority of seals were measured in the field by Inuit hunters who recorded date of kill, sex and blubber depth at sternum (0.5 cm). The data from the harvested animals are used to evaluate stressors and overall seal health, in the Canadian Arctic.

The Canadian Wildlife Service - Ontario Region Biodiversity Atlas represents the Canadian Wildlife Service biodiversity portfolio across the Ontario portions of the Boreal Hardwood Shield (Bird Conservation Region 12) and Mixedwood Plains (Bird Conservation Region 13) ecozones. These data are the derived product from an extensive landscape assessment that assessed the Canadian Wildlife Service biodiversity portfolio (Species at Risk, migratory birds, habitat) at various resolutions. Biodiversity is mapped by forest, grassland (open country) and wetland quality and quantity, and then progressively combined to identify local High Value Biodiversity Areas. At the finest resolution, scores were applied to each unit of analysis (5 hectare hexagon in Bird Conservation Region 12; 2 hectare hexagon in Bird Conservation Region 13), based on over 30 criteria for landscape habitat condition, Species at Risk and migratory birds. Habitat condition scores were derived from guidance in Environment and Climate Change Canada's existing How Much Habitat is Enough? and in Bird Conservation Region 12, where the landscape is less fragmented, habitat was also based on draft guidance in How Much Disturbance is too Much? Individual scores were summed and various combinations (e.g. top 25% of forest scores + top 25% of Species at Risk (SAR) scores) were calculated to identify areas with multiple conservation value. For each habitat type (forest, grassland and wetland), study units with more than one conservation value were aggregated into High Value Habitat which were subsequently aggregated into High Value Biodiversity Areas (HVBA). The results are areas on the landscape that have high value from a Canadian Wildlife Service specific lens; that is, they are high quality habitats that are important for Species at Risk and/or migratory birds. High value habitats are those forests, grasslands and wetlands with potential high conservation value (PHCV). They contain at least 1 of a possible 3 potential high conservation values: top 25% of overall habitat scores, top 25% of Species at Risk (SAR) scores, and/or top 25% of relevant migratory bird scores. High value forest, grassland and wetland were derived by combining landscape, Species at Risk (SAR) and migratory bird elements (see Table 1). Overall habitat scores were assigned to each study unit based on the combined scores for each forest, grassland and wetland. These overall habitat scores were divided into quartiles, and the top 25% of each total score (overall forest, overall grassland and overall wetland) are considered to be potential high conservation value. Similarly, SAR scores were assigned for each study unit, totalled and broken into quartiles. The top 25% of SAR scores that intersect each of forest, grassland and wetland are considered to be the highest quality habitats important to SAR and have potential high conservation value. Finally, relevant migratory bird scores were totalled within each study unit, divided into quartiles and the top 25% of migratory bird scores that intersect each of forest, grassland and wetland are considered to be the highest quality habitats important to migratory birds and have potential high conservation value. Study units with a PHCV greater than 0 (i.e., contains at least 1 of the possible 3 potential high conservation values) were aggregated together by 750 m to create High Value Habitats. High value biodiversity areas (HVBAs) are those study units that contain multiple high value habitats (high value forest and/or high value grassland and/or high value wetland). High value biodiversity areas (HVBA) were derived by aggregating high value forest, grassland and wetland. Study units with a potential high conservation value greater than 1 were aggregated together by 750 m. Biodiversity sites are areas greater than 20 ha, and secondary biodiversity sites are areas less than 20 ha in area.