In 2021, Environment and Climate Change Canada commissioned the Invasive Species Centre (ISC) to conduct an online survey to estimate annual expenditures incurred by municipalities related to invasive species management. The survey was done with support from the Invasive Alien Species National Committee, a federal-provincial-territorial committee working to increase policy coordination and information sharing with regards to invasive alien species prevention, detection, and management.

The survey did not include expenditures from federal, provincial or territorial governments, nor did it include expenditures from parks, Indigenous communities or conservation authorities.

In Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta, the survey was distributed to all municipalities with a population of at least 10,000. In Quebec and Nova Scotia, the survey was distributed to municipalities with a population of at least 5,000. The population threshold was reduced to 1,000 in Manitoba and to 500 in Saskatchewan. For the remaining provinces and territories, the survey was distributed to as many municipalities as could be contacted.

A total of 231 responses were received, representing 6.5% of the 3,530 municipalities in Canada. Slightly more than three-quarters (77.5%) of these municipalities indicated that they had incurred costs linked to invasive alien species activities, with 61.6% of those expenditures focussed on control and management activities. Furthermore, 60.6% of municipalities that responded indicated that funding was not sufficient to fully support management efforts. In addition, most municipalities reported that invasive species management costs would increase in the future, with about a third of respondents estimating that these would increase by 25 to 50% by 2025.

The expenditures incurred in 2020 as reported by municipalities that answered the survey were extrapolated to estimate the total annual expenditure across all municipalities in Canada on invasive alien species activities. Based on this extrapolation, it is estimated that annual municipal expenditures on invasive alien species activities across Canada were $247.9 million, which translates into an estimated annual expenditure of $7.05 per capita.

The survey also included information on invasive alien species of concerns for municipalities, with a breakdown by province or territory. The invasive species of concern that were identified as a top priority by municipalities included Japanese knotweed, giant hogweed, emerald ash borer, leafy spurge, and Eurasian watermilfoil. Nationwide, zebra and quagga mussels were the most frequently reported emerging invasive species of concern by responding municipalities. For the survey’s purposes, an emerging species of concern was a species not currently found within the municipality but that may need to be addressed in the near future.