Millions of dollars in funding but still no plan: can Quebec save its caribou from extinction? — SkimNews
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- The federal government committed C$25m over five years to Quebec for caribou protection, plus C$15m for First Nations communities, but Alain Branchaud of SNAP Québec says Quebec still has no caribou strategy a decade after one was first announced.
- Quebec's 13 woodland caribou herds total roughly 6,800–8,900 animals, and Prof Martin-Hugues St-Laurent of the University of Quebec at Rimouski says 12 of those herds are at risk of extinction within 20 years.
- Maternity penning has delivered mixed-to-poor results: the Val d'Or herd grew by just one animal (to seven) by summer 2026, the Charlevoix herd sits at 48, and the Gaspésie program lost two females and has 20 animals.
- Habitat loss is the underlying driver, says Laval University biologist Daniel Fortin — caribou need about 65% undisturbed forest, but most Quebec populations live in areas with less than 40% undisturbed, and more than 500,000km of logging roads give wolves easy access.
- Quebec's environment ministry had a caribou strategy proposal in 2024 but it was rejected by the province's natural resources and forests ministry; a partial strategy announced the same year has yet to materialize, and the ministry declined to be interviewed.
- WCS Canada's Justina Ray contrasts Quebec's approach with British Columbia's more holistic program, which combined pens with predator control, habitat conservation and First Nations involvement from the outset.
- Environment minister Pascale Déry has been criticized for earlier remarks suggesting she did not believe caribou were endangered, and a previous minister's plan to send the Val d'Or herd to a zoo was cancelled after public outcry.
Why it matters: Quebec has spent years mapping the collapse of its woodland caribou — St-Laurent bluntly calls the province 'the best at monitoring the decline' — yet the natural resources ministry rejected the only recent strategy proposal, leaving logging and mining interests in caribou range essentially unchallenged while 12 of 13 herds slide toward extinction.
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