Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

A plan put forward earlier this year by the federal government to protect caribou herds in Quebec is going to come at a cost, according to the Montreal Economic Institute.

And that costs varies from region to region, but the overall price tag is $177.6 million and 1,990 jobs, according to the think tank’s estimates, which were included in a report issued Sept. 17.

“If the federal government goes ahead with this decree, it will cause the loss of a minimum of 1,990 jobs and with no guarantee that the caribou will be saved,” said Gabriel Giguère, a senior public policy analyst with the MEI.

In June, the federal minister of Environment and Climate Change issued an emergency order to take steps to address what it deemed are the “imminent threats” faced by three dwindling herds of boreal caribou in the province. These herds are considered at risk, with one herd including as few as nine animals.

These herds are located in Val d’Or, Charlevoix and Pipmuacan, which is located in the Saguenay-Lac St. Jean region.

Ottawa estimates that with nine members, the caribou herd in Val d’Or is at a level that “has already crossed the threshold of quasi-extinction,” officials claim. “The one in Charlevoix is very close to reaching it.” The Charlevoix herd has about 30 animals.

The herd in Pipmuacan is estimated at having fewer than 300 members, with federal officials believing it could become quasi-extinct in about 10 years.

The federal order to protect the animals has been put to public consultation in the regions involved, but has yet to be finalized. When approved, the measure would protect targeted areas of what is considered “best available habitat” on provincially owned lands.

According to the federal government, there are multiple threats to the herds’ recovery, including the increased scope of logging activities and industrial expansion. The order would stop those activities in defined areas.

And it is this possible restriction on logging activities that the MEI focuses on in its report.

More than half of the $177.6 million economic impact – or $93.3 million in annual economic activity – will be felt in the Pipmuacan region, where the MEI estimates the protection of 225 animals would result in the loss of at 1,041 jobs.

In the Charlevoix region, protecting the herd of fewer than 30 could cause the loss of at least 609 jobs and reduce economic activity by $54.3 million.

In Val d’Or, the measure would result in the loss of 38 jobs and $3.43 million in economic activity, the MEI claims.

“Preserving the woodland caribou is laudable,” said Giguère, “but the method adopted should not result in putting so many Quebecers out of work.”

In April the Quebec government announced a $59.5-million plan to safeguard boreal caribou in Charlevoix and mountain caribou in Gaspé, but critics say the protections included for the animals’ habitat arenot enough.

This lack of habitat protection is, in part, what sparked Ottawa’s emergency measure. But federal officials say if Quebec implements concrete protection measures, the federal Environment minister would withdraw the emergency order.

Quebec is home to about 15 per cent of Canada’s boreal caribou population. In 2023,

the Quebec government estimated the boreal caribou population to be between 6,162 and 7,445.