Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada

It was established in 1977 to provide a single, scientifically sound classification of wildlife species at risk of extinction.

Although the status assigned by COSEWIC is not legally binding, it does report its results to the government and the public.

[2][3] By December 2013 there were "686 wildlife species in various COSEWIC risk categories, including 196 Special Concern (SC), 166 Threatened (T), 302 Endangered (E), 22 Extirpated (XT) (i.e., no longer found in the wild in Canada) and 15 wildlife species that are Extinct (X).

[4] COSEWIC provides online updated status reports on designated species.

[5] COSEWIC bases its quantitative criteria for species' status assessment on the revised IUCN Red List,[4] the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species.