Revisions

In 2005, the Canadian Land Trust Standards and Practices were modified from the 2004 version of the US Land Trust Standards and Practices under official license from the Land Trust Alliance in the US.

In 2017, the Land Trust Alliance released the 2017 Land Trust Standards and Practices which prompted the revision of the Canadian Land Trust Standards and Practices. After a broad Call for Applicants was circulated, an Expert Committee was assembled to focus on revising a subset of the 2017 US practices to be applicable to the Canadian context. The Expert Committee members included Ian Barnett, Gary Goodwin, George Gordon, Prunelle Thibault-Bédard, and Renata Woodward. Laura Kucey was also invited to join the Expert Committee to provide views and perspectives of the Ecological Gifts Program. Karen Cooper and Marie-Michèle Rousseau-Clair acted as support persons to guide and assist the Committee in achieving their tasks.

The revision process was divided into 6 steps outlined below:

  1. Crosswalk Comparison – During the summer of 2017, a crosswalk comparison was prepared outlining the differences between the 2005 Canadian Land Trust Standards and Practices and the 2017 US version. The crosswalk also highlighted practices that required further editing to apply to the Canadian context.
  2. Preliminary Consultation – In fall 2017, conservation organizations were invited to share comments, feedback, and questions on the crosswalk and proposed changes to the S&Ps.
  3. Detailed Review – In summer 2018, the Expert Committee assessed the S&Ps and prepared recommended revisions.
  4. Second Online Consultation – In late summer 2018, conservation organizations were invited to provide input on the proposed revisions.
  5. Consultation with the US Land Trust Alliance – In fall 2018, the consultation results were integrated with the proposed revisions and discussed with the US Land Trust Alliance to ensure the Canadian revisions were consistent with the license and did not weaken the integrity of the Land Trust Standards and Practices.
  6. Release of the Revised S&Ps – In early 2019, the final revised version of the Canadian Land Trust Standards and Practices were publicly released.