The Canadian population of Blue Jay is best monitored by the Breeding Bird Survey (BBS), which samples most of the Canadian breeding range and has high precision in trend estimates. The national BBS trend shows a slight decline in the late 1970s, but an increase ever since, with a current level just over double the abundance in the early 1970s. Long-term increases have been particularly large in the Prairies, the eastern boreal forest, and southern parts of Ontario and Quebec. Christmas Bird Count data for Canada show an even larger increase, with abundance nearly tripling since 1970, but this presumably to some extent also reflects a gradual northward shift of the wintering range in response to climate change.

The goal for Blue Jay is to remain at or above its recent population level, based on the Breeding Bird Survey. Trend data show that Blue Jay is currently within its goal range.