Navigating Canada’s Arctic Shipping Policy

Mollie Anderson | June 4, 2026

Until recent history, ship traffic in the Arctic was limited, seasonal, and closely tied to the needs of northern communities themselves. But Arctic waters are changing, and so is the scale and character of shipping activity within them. How can Canada adapt to this new Arctic shipping environment?

From the Labrador Sea and Saknirutiak Imanga (Baffin Bay) to the Northwest Passages, Canada’s Arctic waters create a sprawling, dynamic web of life. It’s a bustling region where fish and seabirds carefully track the seasonal arrival of open water and plankton, and where walrus haul out on ice floes. Each year, beluga, bowhead whales and narwhal complete migrations along ancient routes through these seas, finding refuge in places like Eclipse Sound or Ninginganiq (Isabella Bay).

For Arctic communities, these waters are more than blue spots on a map. They make up a working ocean that supports travel, harvesting, and the transfer of culture and knowledge from one generation to the next. The health of these waters is critically important, they feed entire communities and sustain the cultural practices that have existed here for millennia.

For decades, marine traffic in these waters has followed a familiar seasonal pattern. As the ice retreats in the summer, sealift vessels arrive to deliver the supplies northern communities depend on—such as fuel, food, building materials, and equipment—before departing again ahead of the ice freeze-up. Local boats travel between camps and communities. Harvesters move across the water and floe edge following wildlife along seasonal routes.

Until recent history, ship traffic in the Arctic was limited, seasonal, and closely tied to the needs of northern communities themselves.

But Arctic waters are changing, and so is the scale and character of shipping activity within them. Canada needs a more integrated, whole system approach to managing this—one that anticipates future growth in vessel traffic and ensures that development occurs safely, responsibly, and in ways that respect and benefit northern communities.

Image – For those living in the Arctic, the ocean is more than a spot on the map. It’s an environment that supports travel, harvesting practices, cultural traditions and more, and its health is vitally important. As shipping activity grows, both the environment and Arctic communities are feeling the impact. Credit: Build Films

Vessel activity in the Canadian Arctic has increased dramatically over the past two decades. Between 1990 and 2015 the total distance travelled by ships in Arctic Canada nearly tripled, rising from about 364,000 kilometres to more than 918,000 kilometres per year. Growth has occurred across multiple vessel types, including cargo ships serving northern mining and infrastructure projects, cruise vessels bringing tourists to remote communities, government and research vessels, fishing boats, and a rapidly growing number of private yachts and pleasure craft operating in Arctic waters.

At the same time, federal, provincial and territorial governments are planning significant investments in Arctic marine infrastructure. Proposals for new or expanded ports, along with plans for expanded icebreaking capacity and discussions about new shipping corridors, signal that vessel traffic in Arctic waters is likely to increase in the years ahead.

As shipping activity grows, its impact on both the environment and Arctic communities remains inadequately managed.

Responsibility for managing shipping in Arctic waters is spread across multiple federal laws and institutions, including the Canada Shipping Act, 2001, the Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act, and the Canadian Navigable Waters Act. Oversight is shared among Transport Canada, the Canadian Coast Guard, and Fisheries and Oceans Canada. At the international level, vessels operating in polar waters must also comply with the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Polar Code, as well as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL), and the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS).

Each of these frameworks plays an important role. But together they function more as a patchwork than as a comprehensive strategy for managing the rapid changes underway in shipping in Canada’s Arctic waters.

The spectrum of impacts we can anticipate from more ships in Canada’s Arctic waters is relatively well understood.

For example, ships generate significant sound from engines and propellers, and against the natural sound landscape of the Arctic marine environment, this shift in noise levels can have drastic consequences on local food security. Marine mammals such as narwhal and beluga rely on sound to navigate, communicate, and locate prey. Increased underwater noise disrupts these behaviours, driving animals away from habitat they have occupied for generations, meaning lower abundance for community harvesters.

Search and rescue capacity is also a critical issue. The retreat of sea ice has helped fuel perceptions that Arctic waters are becoming easier to navigate. In reality, conditions are becoming more complex and unpredictable. Ice choke points, fog, extreme weather, and limited charting continue to present serious operational risks.

Northern communities play a frontline role in responding to maritime emergencies, yet they frequently lack the equipment and infrastructure needed to safely carry out these operations. Many communities are providing essential, life-saving services on a voluntary basis, without compensation for frontline emergency response. There are also unanswered questions about the impacts of expanded icebreaking to support commercial shipping operations and how year-round vessel activity could affect the marine environment, and sea ice used by communities to travel and harvest.

Image – Increased vessel travel adds pressure to Arctic communities by impacting animal behaviour and harvesting practices, as well as adding strain to communities’ search and rescue capacity. Credit: Build Films

Achieving an integrated approach means strengthening underwater noise management, supporting strong incident response, investing in local infrastructure and supporting local monitoring, governance and enforcement, and better supporting community-based search and rescue operations. It also means ensuring that economic benefits associated with more economic activity in Arctic waters actually flow to Arctic communities.

Most importantly, Arctic Indigenous communities must be involved from the outset in shaping the policies and regulations that govern Arctic shipping. Communities possess a wealth of knowledge and experience interacting with the Arctic marine environment. This accumulated understanding is crucial for formulating shipping regulations that are appropriately tailored to the specific conditions of the Arctic. Consequently, the collaborative development of shipping policy, in partnership with Indigenous organizations and communities, is the only way to ensure that such policies accurately represent the practical experiences of those who primarily utilize Arctic waters.

While life in the Arctic has followed seasonal patterns for many years, it’s also characterized by capacity for change.

This summer, the sea ice will retreat again, and more ships will pass through Arctic waters. To keep up, Canada’s shipping policy will need to adapt, reflecting the dynamic pace of Arctic life and the new environment we find ourselves in today.