Overall, Nelson's Sparrow is best monitored by the Breeding Bird Survey (BBS), although it provides minimal coverage of the Hudson Bay Lowlands population. The BBS shows an increase in the population from the early 1990s to early 2010s, but has subsequently declined again, back to just below early 1970s levels. At a regional scale there is more variability, with moderate to large declines in the northwestern boreal region and the Maritimes, but a large increase in the grassland region of the Prairie provinces. Although the results are now somewhat out of date, a comparison between the first (1981-1985) and second (2001-2005) editions of the Atlas of Breeding Birds of Ontario indicated a moderate increase in the probability of observation (Cadman et al., 2007). In the Maritimes, comparison of the first (1986-1990) and second (2006-2010) editions of the Breeding Bird Atlas revealed a relatively stable distribution and only small local changes in the probability of observation (Blaney, 2015). 

The goal for Nelson's Sparrow is to remain at or above its average population level from 1970 to 2022, based on the Breeding Bird Survey. Recent data show that the population is within its goal range.