Carney government wants more leeway for national interest projects that kill protected birds - Toronto Star

The federal government wants to allow Prime Minister Mark Carney's 'national interest projects' to kill or harm protected birds as collateral damage in otherwise legal activities, as long as builders take 'reasonable' steps to limit the impacts. 

A car waits as a Canada goose crosses Charles Street West in Toronto on March 24, 2026.

OTTAWA — The federal government wants to create a new permit system to allow Prime Minister Mark Carney’s “national interest projects” to kill or harm protected birds as collateral damage in otherwise legal activities, as long as builders take “reasonable” steps to limit the impacts. 

The proposal was floated in a government publication on Friday, as part of a broader set of changes being considered for federal migratory birds regulations that protect a long list of species including Canada geese to great blue herons, some ducks and songbirds.

While at least one prominent conservation group voiced concern about the proposal, including questions about what could be defined as “reasonable” measures to prevent damage, others said they support the creation of a system that could police the incidental killing of protected birds that is already happening anyway. 

“If it was something that was upheld regularly, then it would be a significant rollback,” said Rachel Plotkin, boreal project manager with the David Suzuki Foundation.

“Because the landscape of the implementation of the Migratory Birds (Convention) Act is so weak, at least acknowledging it is something,” she added. 

David Browne, senior vice-president for conservation and policy at Birds Canada, said that while he is concerned the broader government plan to fast-track major projects — including through special powers to bypass regulations — could harm birds, the new permit system makes sense. That’s because, by formalizing permits, the government could create more oversight that encourages industry to try harder to avoid accidentally killing birds. 

“Hundreds of millions of birds are killed annually incidentally,” Browne said. “For some sectors and some industries and some projects, we need actual rules and regulations, and the permits are a way of doing it.”