Overview

The Caribou Conservation Stewardship Program supports projects that maintain and recover populations of Boreal Caribou in Ontario. The Caribou Conservation Stewardship Program is part of the Species Conservation Program.

The program will provide funding towards conservation activities including on-the-ground habitat restoration and protection monitoring, science and research, to:

  • non-profit organizations
  • Indigenous communities
  • other groups that support caribou conservation

This program is one way we are implementing the Agreement for the Conservation of Caribou, Boreal Population in Ontario, a five-year conservation agreement with the Government of Canada. The agreement establishes collaborative commitments, including habitat planning, protection and restoration activities from both the federal and provincial governments to protect and recover Boreal Caribou.

We are working with all partners to implement the conservation agreement in a way that balances protecting and recovering the species with the social and economic realities of Ontarians and industries in the North.

Who can apply

The fund is open to individuals and groups across Ontario, including:

  • academic institutions
  • businesses
  • consulting companies
  • Indigenous communities and organizations
  • individuals
  • industry organizations
  • landowners
  • municipal and local governments
  • non-government organizations

The following groups are not eligible for funding under this program:

  • provincial government ministries
  • federal government departments and agencies
  • unincorporated informal groups or clubs (non-legal entities)
  • conservation authorities

Eligible projects

To be eligible for consideration, stewardship projects must contribute to the maintenance, recovery or adaptive management of populations of Boreal Caribou, including:

  • on-the-ground habitat restoration and protection
  • other conservation activities such as monitoring and research

Eligible activities include:

  • habitat management/restoration
  • conducting monitoring
  • reduction of threats to Boreal Caribou
  • research
  • gathering, sharing or incorporating local and Indigenous traditional knowledge

Program guidelines

You can find more information, including eligibility requirements and annual funding priorities, in the 2025-2026 Caribou Conservation Stewardship Program Guidelines.

To learn more, contact borealcaribouconservation@ontario.ca.

How to apply

We are not currently accepting applications for the Caribou Conservation Stewardship Program.

Funded projects

We have funded numerous stewardship projects since the program launched in 2023. Below is a sample of the important work being done.

Biigtigong Nishnaabeg (Ojibways of the Pic River First Nation)

Work includes:

  • advancing understanding of Boreal Caribou, their habitat and the threats they face in the Lake Superior Coast Range
  • identifying habitat restoration opportunities
  • developing best management practices to mitigate predator threats
  • strengthening community caribou conservation capacity

Constance Lake First Nation

Work includes:

  • improving understanding of Boreal Caribou in the Pagwachuan Range through monitoring that integrates community, traditional and scientific knowledge
  • building community caribou conservation capacity

FERIT Environmental Consulting

Work includes:

  • improving protection of Boreal Caribou in their southern ranges by creating a web-based tool to improve the assessment of impacts to Boreal Caribou from land use and wildlife management actions, including consideration of climate change
  • advancing Boreal Caribou conservation by developing a forest management planning tool to assess harvest plan options that meet timber goals while protecting Boreal Caribou habitat

First Resource Management Group Inc.

Enhancing understanding of Boreal Caribou population size, distribution and demographics through aerial surveys and fecal DNA analysis in the:

  • Kesagami Range
  • Berens Range
  • Sydney Range

Forest Products Association of Canada

Increasing understanding of the differences and similarities in population size and genetic diversity between Boreal Caribou populations in the Churchill and Brightsand Ranges through a fecal DNA study in the Churchill Range and comparison with a previous study in the Brightsand Range.

Forests Canada

Work includes:

  • accelerating recovery of Boreal Caribou habitat affected by wildfire through tree planting in the Nipigon Range
  • improving understanding of recovery of habitat following wildfires in the Nipigon and Berens Ranges
  • building Indigenous community caribou conservation capacity

Friends of Wabakimi

Improving understanding of Boreal Caribou in the Wabakimi Provincial Park Area by training and empowering citizen scientists to monitor Boreal Caribou through canoe and aerial surveys.

Gesner & Associates Environmental Learning Inc.

Developing a catalogue of prioritized sites for Boreal Caribou habitat restoration in known high-use areas for Boreal Caribou in the Brightsand Range based on reducing the probability of caribou-wolf encounters.

GreenFirst Forest Products

Developing and applying improved methodologies for detecting and classifying disturbance from linear features, such as roads, in Boreal Caribou habitat to enhance conservation efforts.

Hearst Forest Management Inc.

Enhancing understanding of Boreal Caribou population size, distribution, and demographics in the Pagwachuan Range using aerial surveys and fecal DNA analysis.

Lakehead University

Work includes:

  • improving understanding of Boreal Caribou population size, distribution and demographics in the Brightsand Range through aerial surveys and fecal DNA analysis
  • conducting research to improve habitat management for Boreal Caribou on the Slate Islands by assessing the impacts of land use practices
  • establishing a Research Chair on Boreal Caribou populations in Ontario to advance Boreal Caribou conservation through research, education and engagement activities
  • developing and testing an enhanced definition of Boreal Caribou habitat quality that is specific to Ontario’s boreal forest and focused on terrestrial lichens
  • improving understanding of Boreal Caribou genetics, population structure and the influence of landscape features on gene flow within and between the Brightsand and Churchill Ranges using fecal DNA analysis

Matawa First Nations Management

Deepening understanding of Boreal Caribou habitat changes and habitat use in the Missisa, Ozhiski, and Pagwachuan Ranges through monitoring, research and building community conservation capacity.

Matthew Allan Scrafford

Improving understanding of how changes to Boreal Caribou habitat have affected Boreal Caribou over the past 20 years by analyzing animal occupancy and land cover information in parts of the:

  • Berens Range
  • Sydney Range
  • Churchill Range
  • Kinloch Range

Michipicoten First Nation

Increasing understanding of Boreal Caribou habitat in the Lake Superior Coast Range through:

  • monitoring
  • addressing knowledge gaps related to caribou translocation
  • building community caribou conservation capacity

Moose Cree First Nation

Work includes:

  • improving understanding of how landscape disturbance and climate change affect Boreal Caribou in the Kesagami Range
  • enhancing community caribou conservation capacity by:
    • undertaking monitoring
    • considering traditional ecological knowledge
    • identifying priority areas for caribou conservation

National Council for Air and Stream Improvement

Enhancing understanding of the nutritional needs of Boreal Caribou by assessing and mapping nutritional resources and habitat selection across Boreal Caribou ranges in the Continuous Distribution.

Ne-Daa-Kii-Me-Naan Inc.

Increasing knowledge of changes to Boreal Caribou habitat use following disturbance in the Kenogami Forest (Nipigon and Pagwachuan Ranges).

Netmizaagamig Nishnabeg (Pic Mobert First Nation)

Restoring Boreal Caribou habitat in the Lake Superior Coast Range including by building community stewardship capacity.

Perimeter Forest Limited Partnership

Analysing Boreal Caribou presence and potential for range expansion in the Taiga Forest property area located near Kapuskasing, Ontario.

Silvacom Ltd.

Work includes:

  • improving understanding of threats to Boreal Caribou habitat and mitigation strategies by improving the modelling of Boreal Caribou habitat disturbance in the Brightsand and Churchill Ranges (for example, from wildfires and climate change)
  • improving forest management planning for Boreal Caribou by developing and applying a scalable model to identify and classify lichen (a key winter food source for Boreal Caribou) in the Brightsand Range
  • improving how Boreal Caribou conservation is incorporated into forest management planning in Ontario by developing an automated process that streamlines the use of spatial model outputs in the Ontario Landscape Tool to more efficiently assess Boreal Caribou habitat impacts
  • improving understanding of Boreal Caribou habitat use in the Brightsand Range by linking observed caribou locations with landscape attributes and using findings to recommend improvements to habitat models used by forest management planners

Slate Falls Nation

Evaluating the feasibility of a co-management board for Boreal Caribou in the Churchill, Kinloch, and Berens Ranges. Gathering and integrating traditional ecological knowledge with scientific data to inform monitoring. Strengthening community capacity to lead caribou conservation efforts.

The Nature Conservancy of Canada

Increase understanding of Boreal Caribou presence in the Boreal Wildlands, a 145,000 hectare property near the Pagwachuan Range, through research and restoring potential habitat on this property.

Thunder Bay Field Naturalists

Monitoring for the presence of wolves on Michipicoten Island to support decision-making on potential Boreal Caribou reintroduction.

Trent University

Work includes:

  • enhancing the availability of genetic information on Boreal Caribou and the rigour of its collection by establishing a comprehensive baseline dataset and monitoring framework
  • developing a method to estimate the age of Boreal Caribou using fecal samples, thereby improving the accuracy of population estimates using non-invasive methods
  • enhancing genetic monitoring of Boreal Caribou in Ontario and improving understanding of genomic regions linked to health conditions and fitness traits
  • improving the ability to delineate Boreal Caribou from Eastern Migratory Caribou through genetic analysis

University of Guelph

Work includes:

  • improving the knowledge of caribou ecotype boundaries, and seasonal habitat selection in the Far North, with emphasis on how wolf predation may affect calf survival
  • increasing understanding of habitat use and needs for Boreal Caribou in the Kesagami, James Bay, Missisa, Ozhiski, Nipigon, Brightsand and Kinloch Ranges, including:
    • studying seasonal variations
    • examining shared spaces between Eastern Migratory and Boreal Caribou
    • modeling habitat choices based on reproductive status and predation risks
  • informing the future management of Boreal Caribou in Far North ecosystems by increasing understanding of the relationship between disturbance, moose, predators such as wolves and bears, and Boreal Caribou populations
  • improving understanding of Boreal Caribou by recommending survey methods to estimate population size based on an assessment of current methods and developing population estimates for the Berens, Churchill, Kesagami and Kinloch Ranges

Wabadowgang Noopming Management

Work includes:

  • developing an Indigenous-supported silvicultural program that avoids the application of herbicides and considers Boreal Caribou habitat need in the Wabadowgang Noopming Forest in the Berens Range
  • restoring Boreal Caribou habitat in a 10,000-hectare area of recent forestry operations within the Brightsand Range by identifying and rehabilitating roads

Wabauskang First Nation

Improve understanding of early mineral exploration impacts on Boreal Caribou habitat by developing and testing methodologies for identifying early exploration activities on abandoned sites and associated habitat disturbance in the Sydney Range.

Wildlife Conservation Society

Improving the ability to restore Boreal Caribou habitat by developing criteria to determine when roads have returned to functional habitat based on wildlife use at various stages of regeneration in the Sydney, Berens and Churchill Ranges.