Carney announces $1.2 billion for ocean protection

Prime Minister Mark Carney announced $1.2 billion in federal funding for ocean protection in Vancouver on September 29, as Ottawa considers major coastal development and a proposed Alberta-to-British Columbia pipeline. The package includes measures for marine monitoring, emergency response, conservation enforcement and collaboration with Indigenous communities. The sources do not establish that the announced money has been disbursed or that the programs have begun operating. Among the specified allocations, $186 million over five years will support the Northern Shelf Bioregion Reconciliation Framework Agreement. The funding is intended to advance collaborative governance, conservation, waterway management and emergency preparedness in the Great Bear Sea region. Carney also said $90 million would modernize frontline fisheries enforcement, including through tools such as drones. Carney said a separate $100 million would build long-term capacity to monitor, assess and mitigate underwater noise on the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic coasts. For waters around Vancouver, he set a goal of keeping noise at 2023 levels despite increased vessel traffic.