Polar Bear Administrative Committee (PBAC)

The Polar Bear Administrative Committee (PBAC) is a subcommittee of the Canadian Wildlife Director’s Committee that was formed in 1969 to serve as a forum for cooperative management of polar bear populations, and to ensure that Canada fulfils its obligations for polar bear conservation under the Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears. PBAC is made up of representatives from the federal government (Environment and Climate Change Canada, and Parks Canada Agency), provinces and territories (Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Ontario, Québec  and the Yukon), co-management partners that share legal responsibility for the management of polar bears under Land Claims Agreements, and organizations that represent Indigenous peoples. PBAC meets annually to review recommendations provided by the Polar Bear Technical Committee (PBTC) and to discuss matters of coordinated polar management.