The purpose of this study was to inform the Government of the Northwest Territories legislative development process with regards to protected areas. Specifically, the objectives were to: select a jurisdiction in Canada which had a broad suite of protected areas options as a case study; to evaluate the strength of protected areas legislation in that jurisdiction in terms of amount of protection provided by the statutes; to consider the interactions between protected areas legislation and mining legislation in the jurisdiction; and, to make recommendations regarding design of legislation and protected areas initiatives in the Northwest Territories. Manitoba was used as the jurisdictional case study, and the following legislation was examined: The Ecological Reserves Act, The Provincial Parks Act, those sections of The Wildlife Act pertaining to Wildlife Management Areas, those sections of The Forest Act pertaining to Provincial Forests, The Manitoba Habitat Heritage Act, The Conservation Districts Act, and The Heritage Resources Act. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)