The federal government has just announced a crucial habitat protection order for the redside dace, a mighty minnow fighting for survival in and around the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Under Section 58 of the Species at Risk Act this order now prohibits any destruction of the dace’s critical habitat in number of important watersheds, including Saugeen River, Bronte Creek, Credit River, Humber River, Don River, Rouge River, Duffins Creek and Carruthers Creek. Potentially, this could mean a very comprehensive prohibition on any further habitat disturbance, which would offer much needed hope for a species that has been under increasing pressure.

What is a Redside Dace?

Known for its flashy red side stripe and ability to consume vast quantities of mosquitoes, almost 90% of its population in Ontario lives within the GTA. It needs clean, cool streams to survive and is the only minnow in Canada that jumps out of the water to catch insect prey. It also plays an essential role in our ecosystems – as an insectivore it helps manage the populations of insects like mosquitoes. Pretty helpful in the summertime!

Once common throughout the GTA’s watersheds, the dace is now limited to the headwaters of a number of rivers. It has been considered endangered in Ontario since 2009. The decline in their population can be linked to habitat disturbance which limits its food source and ability to hunt, increased water temperatures, altered water flows which impacts its resting pools and contaminated runoff from intensive agriculture.

Ontario Government Falling Short

According to terrific reporting in The Narwhal, its population is shrinking by more than five per cent annually, yet the Ontario government approved about 500 permits from 2007 to 2020 for activities affecting its habitat. So it’s unsurprising the federal government gave the province’s input short shrift. In scathing commentary, the order states:

As we have previously written, the Ontario government seems intent on facilitating development at all costs. This includes paving the way for the proposed Highway 413 – an unnecessary and costly project that stands to impact some of the last remaining potential redside dace habitat in the northern reaches of the Greater Toronto Area (and would harm many other species at risk as well).

Whichever level of government is involved, we need to halt further habitat disturbance for the dace’s survival. I hope this last gasp effort is enforced and succeeds. The last thing we want is another amazing Ontario species going locally extinct like the Blanchards’ cricket frog.

Shane Moffatt, Ontario Nature's Conservation Campaigns and Advocacy Manager, is a settler living in Tkaronto (Toronto) on the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples. He has been advocating for environmental justice for almost twenty years and holds an LLM from the University of Toronto. Shane was previously head of Greenpeace Canada’s nature campaign and has extensive experience advocating for legislative reforms, supporting impacted communities and empowering the public to act. Shane is an avid hiker and is frequently found exploring the forests and wetlands of Southern Ontario with his partner.