No grizzly hunting season planned in Alberta, minister says

Alberta has no immediate plans to open a grizzly bear hunting season, Forestry and Parks Minister Todd Loewen said Wednesday.

"We have no plans right now of doing anything. We're looking at all the options that we have available to us," Loewen said in an interview. "We want to make sure that any decisions we make are made in the best interest of Albertans."

Sport hunting for grizzlies has been banned in Alberta since 2006, except for Indigenous harvesting for subsistence or cultural purposes. The province does allow approved hunters to kill "problem" grizzlies on a case-by-case basis through the Wildlife Management Responder Network, introduced in 2024.

The Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA) committed earlier this year to lobbying the provincial government for a hunting season after a motion from Cardston County passed during a March membership meeting. Rural residents cite increased human-bear interactions in southwestern Alberta, including a fisherman injured by a grizzly with cubs near Cardston last summer.

Cardston County chief administrative officer Murray Millward said the municipality respects the province's position. "The province has all the data, so they know what they're doing, I guess," Millward said. He pointed to a county staffer chased by a grizzly bear last year as evidence of the problem.

Loewen acknowledged the concerns. "Grizzly bears are being photographed in areas where they have not been seen in possibly 100 or more years," he said. While he hasn't seen exact statistics on 2026 encounters, he confirmed "there has definitely been a trend over the last few years" of increased grizzly activity and sightings across Alberta.