Canada’s Minister of Transport, Omar Alghabra, alongside Mike Kelloway, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard and Member of Parliament for Cape Breton-Canso, announced over $384 million in funding to strengthen marine safety as part of the next phase of Canada’s Oceans Protection Plan.
The Oceans Protection Plan, in partnership with Indigenous Peoples and coastal communities, is proactively ensuring Canada’s world-leading marine safety system is stronger than ever.
Since 2016, the Oceans Protection Plan has invested in solutions to strengthen our marine safety system. Today’s funding builds on these efforts and expands on new areas, such as:
- Enhancing Canada’s marine emergency prevention, preparedness, and response, including to cover more types of marine pollution beyond oil spills.
- Applying new technologies and building new partnerships with Indigenous Peoples and local communities to make marine shipping more efficient and reduce negative impacts on marine ecosystems.
- Investing in technologies that will accommodate increasing traffic of cargo and vessels moving through Canadian waters.
- Ensuring the safe movement and navigation of large and small vessels to improve safety on the water, and limit risks to marine species.
- Augmenting the capacity of the National Aerial Surveillance Program with a new hangar and accommodations unit in Iqaluit to strengthen surveillance of marine pollution in the Arctic region.
