Offsetting and habitat banking
On this page
- Overview
- Projects which require offsetting
- How to choose which offsetting measures to use
- Offsetting plan
- Fish habitat banking
- Habitat credits
- Related links
Overview
Offsetting is an action proponents take to counterbalance harmful impacts caused by a work, undertaking, or activity on fish and fish habitat. Offsetting is used only after measures to avoid and mitigate any unresolved effects have been exhausted.
There are two ways to offset:
- a proponent can undertake offsetting measures that are specifically designed to counterbalance the impacts of their project
- they can do offsetting measures as a conservation project for a habitat bank and use appropriate certified habitat credits from their fish habitat bank to counterbalance the impacts of their project
Some examples of offsetting measures include:
- restoring degraded fish habitat
- enhancing fish habitat to improve conditions for fish
- constructing productive and sustainable fish habitat where none existed before
Projects which require offsetting
Whether or not a project requires offsetting is determined by a DFO risk assessment. The risk assessment considers the:
- impacts of the project
- actions taken to avoid and mitigate harm
- sensitivity of fish and fish habitat impacted
DFO uses the information provided in the application for authorization to conduct the assessment. Following the risk assessment, DFO will let the applicant know if offsetting is required. The applicant can then either submit their offsetting plan or, if they have a habitat bank, they can allocate habitat credits.
How to choose which offsetting measures to use
Offsetting measures should reflect the specific circumstances and the nature of the fish and fish habitat impacted by the project. DFO prioritizes the restoration of degraded fish habitat (pursuant to paragraph 34.1(1)(f) of the Fisheries Act).
Offsetting measures should be selected with restoration priorities or fisheries Framework to identify fish habitat restoration priorities , each DFO region has identified regionally important fish species, areas, and ecosystem functions, which can be considered when identifying offsetting opportunities.
If the project affects a listed species at risk, offsetting measures must support the objectives of any available recovery strategy and/or action plan for the species (or management plan for species listed as Special Concern). These documents can be found at the Species at risk public registry.
Note: We strongly encourage proponents to engage with Indigenous groups in the planning, design and implementation of offsetting plans and conservation projects to earn habitat credits to make sure their perspectives and concerns are considered. Indigenous knowledge can inform the planning, design and implementation of measures to manage impacts on fish or fish habitat and impacts from the development project.
You can find more details about the guiding principles in the Policy for applying measures to offset harmful impacts to fish and fish habitat.
Offsetting plan
The offsetting measures proposed to counterbalance harmful impacts to fish and fish habitat from a specific project are submitted to DFO for approval in an offsetting plan.
The offsetting plan includes, among other things:
- a description of the offsetting measures to counterbalance the residual impacts of a project on fish and fish habitat and their objectives
- a description of the monitoring measures that will be put in place to assess the effectiveness of the measures to offset
- the timeline and the costs for implementing the offsetting plan
Guidance on creating an offsetting plan is in the Guidelines to develop a plan to apply measures to offset harmful impacts to fish and fish habitat.
Fish habitat banking
A fish habitat bank is an area of fish habitat that has been restored, enhanced or created through one or more conservation projects. The benefits for fish and fish habitat are certified by DFO and held as "habitat credits" by the person or group who undertook the conservation project, or who purchases the certified habitat credits. There may be different types of credits depending on the kinds of positive effects resulting from the specific conservation project.
When a proponent needs to offset their work, undertaking, or activity, they can propose the use of habitat credits from their bank. Fish habitat bank credits can be used as offsetting if the habitat credits represent the kind of benefits that will counterbalance the effects of the project being authorized, and are in the same service area.
Fish habitat banking can reduce the risks associated with an offset failing to meet its objectives, as well as reduce the time and resources required to process authorizations because the offsetting measures are already be in place.
Habitat credits
When a conservation project is complete and results in benefits to fish, it is assigned a habitat value, which is earned as a credit by the owner of the bank. If the owner of the bank is applying for a Fisheries Act authorization, they can propose the use of the resulting habitat credit in their offsetting plan if their project is within the service area of the bank.
There may be requirements about the type of credit a proponent can use relative to the generated impact, to make sure the objective of counterbalancing the impact is achieved. There is no guarantee a proponent can use their credits for any specific authorization.
Related links
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