Information on this page is not legal advice. If there is an error or a conflict between information on this page and any law, the law prevails.

It is your responsibility to determine which requirements of the SCA apply to your specific activity and to comply with those requirements. We encourage you to get professional legal, scientific and technical advice to help you determine your requirements.

Requirements under the SCA

You must register section 16 activities unless the activity is:

  • identified as a permit activity in the Permit Activities Regulation (Ontario Regulation 74/26) or
  • excepted from the requirement to register or to get a permit primarily set out under the Excepted Activities – No Permit or Registration Regulation (Ontario Regulation 61/26). Some exceptions are also found under the SCA and the Transitional Matters Regulation (Ontario Regulation 62/26).

A section 16 activity is:

  • any activity that results or is likely to result in:
    • the killing, harming, capturing or taking of a member of a protected species, or
    • damage to or destruction of the habitat of a protected species, or
  • possessing, transporting, collecting, buying, selling, leasing, trading or offering to buy, sell, lease or trade
    • a living or dead member of a protected species
    • any part of a living or dead member of a protected species, or
    • anything derived from a living or dead member of a protected species, or
  • selling, leasing, trading or offering to sell, lease or trade anything that a person represents to be a thing described in the above

You are responsible for reviewing the SCA and its supporting regulations that are published on e-laws:

Activities that require a permit

  • an activity that results in or is likely to result in the killing or harming of a protected animal species, if the killing or harming is or would be:
    • the direct, intended and deliberate consequence of the activity and
    • the primary purpose of the activity, and
    • not an incidental result of engaging in the activity or another broader activity
  • introducing or reintroducing a protected species to an area where it is not known to currently occur 
  • capturing or taking a protected species (unless for specific purposes)
  • buying, selling, leasing, trading or offering to buy, sell, lease or trade a protected species
  • possessing, transporting, or collecting a protected species (unless for specific purposes)
  • activities related to the operation of R.H. Saunders hydroelectric station that impact American Eel
  • the cultivation of American Ginseng, unless done in accordance with section 16 of the Exception Regulation

Activities that may not require a permit

  • capturing or taking the species for any of the conservation or survey purposes described in subsection 2(3) of the Permit Activities Regulation
  • possessing, transporting, or collecting the species for:
    • any of the purposes described in subsection 2(3) of the Permit Activities Regulation or
    • an activity carried out for an educational or scientific purpose by:
      • a curatorial institution, including a museum or science centre, that is owned or operated by any level of government
      • a post-secondary institution that is a member of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, or
      • a college of applied arts and technology established under the Ontario Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology Act, 2002

Under subsection 1(2) of the Permit Activities Regulation, you are not required to obtain a permit for an activity if that activity is reasonably necessary to comply with a requirement of the SCA.

For example, if you have registered your activity and you have a conservation plan that indicates you will relocate a protected species if you encounter it at your site, then relocating that species to comply with your conservation plan would not require a permit.

You must assess this on a case-by-case basis, and we encourage you to seek professional advice.

Apply for a permit

If your proposed activity requires a permit under the SCA, you must get a permit before beginning your activity.

Please contact SAROntario@ontario.ca for further information and to apply for a permit.