Canada was 16 years ahead of Teddy Roosevelt in the bird sanctuary business: Parliament declared a federal sanctuary at Last Mountain Lake, Saskatchewan, way back in 1887. And, since 1916, when the US and Canada signed a treaty obligating each nation to protect migratory birds and the “flyways” they share, Canada has established 94 migratory bird sanctuaries totaling about 27.9 million acres.

Lately, though, the country’s efforts at wildlife preservation have lagged. Canada began designating national wildlife areas in 1973, but a severe shortage of funding for acquisitions has limited preservation to 1 million acres in 49 national wildlife areas. Furthermore, Canada’s annual budget for maintaining wildlife areas and bird sanctuaries is only a tiny fraction of what the US spends on the National Wildlife Refuge System.

Although most of Canada’s wildlife areas allow visitors, they offer very limited facilities. A visit to these areas is a primal experience where the focus is on observation, not on recreation. Here’s a sample from each of the four flyway migration paths that pass through northern Canada:

Pacific Flyway
Alaksen, British Columbia
The wetlands of Alaksen NWA sit incongruously at the edge of urban Vancouver, on Westham Island in the Fraser River estuary. Millions of shorebirds and waterfowl pass through Alaksen or winter in the area. The best way to see them is to visit the neighboring George C. Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary, which sports numerous trails and an observation tower. 640-946-6980; www.reifelbirdsanctuary.com.

Central Flyway
Last Mountain Lake, Saskatchewan
Canada’s first federal bird sanctuary is now one of the most accessible to visitors. The 38,500-acre preserve near Regina offers nature trails, a driving or bicycling loop, canoeing, world-class fishing for walleye and northern pike, and the chance to see thousands of ducks, geese and swans. www.mb.ec.gc.ca/nature/whp/nwa/lml/df09s01.en.html.

Mississippi Flyway
Long Point, Ontario
Long Point, the world’s longest freshwater sand spit, extends more than 20 miles into Lake Erie. Its dunes, wetlands, meadows and forests host a remarkable variety of bird life—more than 10 percent of the world’s population of canvasback and redhead ducks stops here—as well as a stunning concentration of monarch butterflies in the fall. Access is
easiest through Long Point Provincial Park. 519-586-2133; www.ontarioparks.com/english/long.html.

Atlantic Flyway
Nova Scotia/New Brunswick
Four national wildlife areas are concentrated in the Tantramar region of Canada, at the head of the Bay of Fundy. Chignecto, Shepody, Tintamarre and Cape Jourimain are all within a short drive of each other, offering splendid canoeing, walking and bird-watching. (“Tintamarre,” from which the Tantramar name is derived, is French for “uproar”—the sound made by all those birds in the marshes.) 506-536-4895; www.tantramartourism.com.