Historical Images Gallery
Deceased Ontario Conservation Officer List
List of Ontario Conservation Officers 1892-1951
Milestones in the History of Natural Resources Enforcement in Ontario
- 1892 Ontario Board of Game and Fish Appointed a chief game warden and 4 part time game wardens, included with that were 392 deputy wardens. They had no uniform and the annual salary was $120.00 increased to $400.00 in 1894
- 1898 Ontario assumed jurisdiction over the fisheries and hired 94 fishery overseers to enforce the fisheries laws
- 1903 The sale of game and fish is prohibited, a radical move that saves bass and muskellunge for sport fishing
- 1920 60 Overseers under the Department of Game and Fish
- 1930 First Uniform introduced to Wardens
- 1947 177 Full-time officers under the new division of Fish and Wildlife
- 1948 Wardens/Overseers first named Conservation Officers
- 1960 First Aboriginal Conservation Officer appointed
- 1980 First female Conservation Officer appointed
- 1986 Special Investigations Unit formally established
- 1990 Canine Services Unit formally established (first K9 service dog) named Shadow in Sudbury
- 1991 New compliance policy branch was established and DNA fingerprinting was accepted by the courts for the first time in a poaching trial
- 1992 Ontario Conservation Officers celebrate 100 years 1892/1992
- 1998 First CO appointment under a First Nation funded partnership
- 2006 Enforcement Branch expanded to include all field operations
- 2011 Compliments and Complaints Process Instilled in Enforcement Branch with Reporting protocols to the public
- 2017 Ontario Conservation Officers celebrate 125 Years 1892/2017
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