The Canadian population has always been limited by habitat availability, but early agricultural development increased the amount and distribution of habitat by clearing brush-covered land. Burrowing Owl numbers peaked from the early 1900s to 1930s, then declined. About 2000 pairs existed in Canada in 1977: 100 in Manitoba; 1300 in Saskatchewan; 600 in Alberta; and a few in British Columbia. The Canadian population fell from 1685 to 1010 in 1995.
The species is now absent or rare in regions where it was once common. Unless the trend is reversed, the Burrowing Owl will likely become extirpated from Manitoba within a few years, and from all of Canada within a few decades. 
 

The recovery objectives for 1998/1999 are: 
1) to launch new studies to investigate the food supply and male foraging habits of the owl, to
determine why over half of the young are suffering from starvation to the extent that they do not fledge; 
2) to continue supplementing the food supply of the owls; 
3) to undertaken new research to determine the survival potential of captive-raised owls; and
4) to organize an international Burrowing Owl symposium in Utah, with the objective of determining whether the species' decline is widespread outside of Canada and to focus on conservation and recovery efforts in western North America. 

The long-term objectives of the recovery plan are: 
1) to reverse the declining population trends on the prairies and to maintain a stable or increasing population averaging over 3,000 pairs for 10 years;
2) to establish a viable population in B.C. and maintain this population at an average of more than 50 pairs for 10 years.

Summary of research and monitoring activities: 
- 1987-1996: extensive inventory work in Manitoba. 
- 1989 to present: studies in Mexico and Texas were undertaken to identify and investigate the wintering grounds of the Burrowing Owl. 
- 1994 to present: researchers from the Saskatchewan Department of Environment and Resource Management and the University of Alberta continued a productivity project in the intensively cultivated area known as the Regina Plains.
- 1997 to 1998: field surveys identified two owls that were tagged in Canada wintering in south Texas. Most of the owls observed in Texas were on heavily cultivated land. 

Summary of recovery actions: 
- 1987 to 1996: management activities in Manitoba included widespread extension efforts, releases of captive-reared young, provision of artificial nest burrows and protection of critical nesting sites.
- 1987 to present: the Operation Burrowing Owl program is in operation, which currently involves over 700 landowners in Alberta and Saskatchewan and protects 50,000 ha of nesting habitat. The number of protected sites has increased slightly in recent years though the number of owls has decreased dramatically.
- early 1990s: use of the pesticide carbofuran was banned within 250 m of owl nest sites. 
- 1994 to present: artificial nest burrows are being built and supplemental food is being provided to preserve the declining owl population around Regina, Saskatchewan.
- 1995: a ban on liquid carbofuran was enacted by the federal and Saskatchewan governments. 

Summary of progress to date: 
Monitoring efforts have documented the owl's significant decline in the past decade. The Burrowing Owl has been extirpated from B.C. and is in danger of being extirpated from Manitoba as well. The species has declined in Alberta and Saskatchewan by 16% annually over the past decade. To date recovery efforts have been unsuccessful at reversing the decline or identifying the key factors that are causing the decline.