The World Wildlife Fund wants Canada to change the way it lists species at risk, saying a single listing for animals like polar bears does not reflect the status of various bear populations across the country.

The conservation group says all of Canada's 13 polar bear populations should not be covered by one status alone, noting that there are differences among each population that should be considered.

The federal Committee for the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) recommended in April 2008 that the polar bear be listed as a species of special concern across Canada, which is one step below below threatened and two below endangered.

Environment Canada has since been touring communities across the North, consulting with the public on whether to implement that designation.

"Some regions could have polar bears that are in the threatened category and others in the lower-risk category," Peter Ewins, the wildlife fund's director of species conservation, told CBC News on Tuesday.

The polar bear has been a species of special concern since 1991.

The United States declared the polar bear as a threatened species across its Arctic range in 2008, ignoring a call from the Nunavut government to consider each of the bears' populations individually.

"We believe that the assessments of polar bears' extinction risks should be made on a regional basis to reflect the ice science," Ewins said.

"At this point that isn't the approach that the COSEWIC committee took."

Federal Environment Minister Jim Prentice has acknowledged that polar bear populations are not all on the same level. Prentice's predecessor, John Baird, said the same around the time COSEWIC released its decision a year ago.

"Obviously the situations are very different in each of the sub-populations," Baird told reporters at the time.

"That's why we're waiting for the detailed science and we may have to take more aggressive action to deal with some sub-populations."

Officials with COSEWIC told CBC News they will soon respond to the WWF's comments.