The Arctic will receive improvements to marine safety over five years starting in 2017 due to Canada’s new $1.5 billion Oceans Protections Plan, unveiled in November.
The plan includes:
- increased protection from oil spills and other marine emergencies;
- making Arctic resupply operations faster, safer and more efficient for communities;
- extending the service season of the Canadian Coast Guard’s icebreakers presence in the Arctic;
- the creation of a Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary;
- creating new seasonal rescue boat stations to improve northern search and rescue capacity and a seasonal inshore rescue boat station in the Arctic, including eight new community response boats; research into the impacts of increased shipping on marine ecosystems; and
- improved marine traffic and navigation information for mariners, Indigenous people, and coastal communities.
