Keywords Environment

A fundamental principle of the CHRS is that the nomination and management of Canadian heritage rivers remains with the government - the provincial governments in the south, the territorial and federal governments jointly in the north, and the federal government in NATIONAL PARKS and other federal lands.

Heritage Rivers
There are currently 40 rivers with a total length of more than 9800 km in the CHRS. Of these, 30 are designated (ie, a management plan has been accepted by the Canadian Heritage Rivers Board). These rivers range from wilderness rivers of the Barren Lands to rivers in densely populated areas of southern Canada. There is at least one Canadian heritage river in each province and territory.

The CHRS is administered by the Canadian Heritage Rivers Board, which is composed of 15 members - 2 appointed by the federal government (one from the DEPARTMENT OF INDIAN AND NORTHERN AFFAIRS CANADA and one from Parks Canada) and one appointed by each of the provincial and territorial governments. Participation in the CHRS is voluntary. The board meets at least once each year to review new river nominations, to decide on program and funding priorities and to discuss and approve new policies and guidelines. Becoming a Canadian heritage river is a two-step process: nomination and designation. Public involvement is an integral component to both river nomination and designation.

Nomination Process
Intergovernmental co-operation and public participation are the cornerstones of the CHRS. Nomination of a river to the CHRS must originate with the government with jurisdiction over the river. The role of private citizens and advocacy groups is to lobby for rivers that the public feels have the greatest merit for inclusion.

Each participant in the CHRS has carried out province-wide or territory-wide studies to determine a list of potential Canadian heritage rivers. Public consultation takes place during this step to assist government officials in selecting preferred river candidates.

Once a specific river is chosen based on its natural, cultural and recreational values, further studies and public consultations are carried out to document its outstanding heritage values; determine whether or not the river meets CHRS criteria; the level of public support for nomination of the river to the CHRS; the number and complexity of conflicting river uses; and the feasibility of effectively managing the river and its watershed in accordance with CHRS guidelines. If the decision is made to nominate a river to the CHRS, the nominating government prepares and submits a nomination document to the board. The nomination document describes how the river's natural, cultural or recreational values, or a combination of these, makes the river of outstanding value. It also provides information on the measures that must be put in place to ensure those values will be maintained.

Nominated Rivers
River, Location, LengthCLEARWATER, Alta, 139 km

Cowichan, BC, 47 km

Bay du Nord, Nfld, 75 km

CHURCHILL, Sask, 487 km

Jacques-Cartier, Que, 128 km

Tatshenshini, YT, 45 km

HAYES, Man, 590 km

The Three Rivers, PEI, 73km

COPPERMINE, Nunavut, 450 km

Designation Process
After a nomination has been accepted by the board, the nominating government has 3 years to prepare a management plan. Development of management plans is based on public consultation and consensus-building. Once a management plan has been tabled before the board, the chairperson advises the minister responsible for Parks Canada and the minister(s) responsible for the nominating government agencies that the requirements for designation have been met. The ministers then formally designate the river by unveiling a plaque at a ceremony held at a key location on the river.

Management plans are the heart of the CHRS. They describe the actions that will be taken to ensure the protection of the outstanding resources for which the river was nominated. They also spell out how these resources will be interpreted, appropriate recreational uses of the river, ecological integrity guidelines and monitoring requirements.

Canadian Heritage Rivers
River, Location, Year Designated, LengthFRENCH, Ont, 1986, 110 km

ALSEK, YT, 1986, 90km

SOUTH NAHANNI, NWT, 1987, 300 km

CLEARWATER, Sask, 1987, 187 km

BLOODVEIN, Man, 1987, 200 km; 1998, additional 106 km

MATTAWA, Ont, 1988, 33 km; 2001, additional 32 km

ATHABASCA, Alta, 1989, 168 km

North SASKATCHEWAN, Alta, 1989, 49 km

KICKING HORSE, BC, 1990, 67 km

KAZAN, Nunavut, 1990, 615 km

THELON, Nunavut, 1990, 545 km

ST CROIX, NB, 1991, 185 km

Thirty Mile (YUKON), YT, 1991, 48 km

Seal, Man, 1992, 260 km

Soper, Nunavut, 1992, 248 km

ARCTIC RED, NWT, 1993, 450 km

GRAND, Ont, 1994, 627 km

BOUNDARY WATERS, Ont, 1996, 250 km

HILLSBOROUGH, PEI, 1997, 45 km

SHELBURNE, NS, 1997, 53 km

BONNET PLUME, YT, 1998, 350 km

Upper RESTIGOUCHE, NB, 1998, 55 km

MARGAREE, NS, 1998, 120 km

FRASER, BC, 1998, 1375 km

HUMBER, Ont, 1999, 100 km

RIDEAU WATERWAY, Ont, 2000, 202 km

THAMES, Ont, 2000, 273 km

ST MARY'S, Ont, 2000, 125 km

DETROIT, Ont, 2001, 51 km

MAIN, Nfld, 2001, 57 km

Vision
The goal of the CHRS is to establish a system of Canadian heritage rivers that reflects the diversity of Canada's rich river environments and celebrates the importance of rivers in Canada's history and society. Its vision is to ensure that rivers in Canada flow into the future, pure and unfettered as they have since the melting of the great Pleistocene ice sheets.

Author MAXWELL W. FINKELSTEIN

Suggested Reading
Lynn Noel, ed, Voyages: Canada's Heritage Rivers (1995).

Links to Other Sites
Davidsonia
The website for "Davidsonia," a journal that provides original, review, discussion or summary work that is of interest to the botanical and botanical garden communities at large. Offers full text articles online. From the University of British Columbia.

The Canadian Heritage Rivers System
The website for the Canadian Heritage Rivers System, Canada's national river conservation program. This innitiative promotes, protects and enhances Canada's river heritage.

The Atlas of Canada – Rivers
At this Atlas of Canada website, you can access maps and statistics about Canada’s major river systems.

The Canoe
A brief passage about the simple pleasures of canoeing across a quiet lake in the Canadian wilderness. From Gerald Kenney’s book "Lake of the Old Uncles." Check out the homepage for more on issues related to preserving navigation rights on Canadian rivers. From the Canadian Rivers Network website.