The Canadian population of Bufflehead is at least moderately well monitored by four programs. The Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey (WBPHS) is the only source with high overall reliability. The continental Christmas Bird Count (CBC) also provides high coverage, but precision is only intermediate, and data collection is less standardized. The Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) samples a lower proportion of the population, but has high precision. The Eastern Waterfowl Survey (EWS) is well targeted to the eastern part of the population, but only started in 1990 and has medium precision. The WBPHS (+84%) and CBC (+85%) show nearly identical moderate increases since 1970, while the BBS indicates a large increase of 131% over the same period. These results are largely aligned with the 43% increase shown by the EWS over a shorter period.

The goal for Bufflehead is to maintain a population of at least 920,000 individuals in the region sampled by the Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey. This is based on the North American Waterfowl Management Plan's goal of 984,000 individuals across the survey's full extent, but adjusted to reflect the average proportion of the breeding population in Canada (94%). Data from the Canadian portion of the range indicate that Bufflehead is currently within its goal range.