Question Period Note: Arctic Sovereignty - General

Canada's Arctic sovereignty

• Canada's Arctic sovereignty is longstanding and well established. All waters of Canada's Arctic Archipelago, including the various waterways commonly known as the "Northwest Passage" (NWP) are internal waters of Canada by virtue of historic title.

• As internal waters, there are no rights of transit passage or innocent passage in the NWP.

• Existing boundary disputes with Denmark and the United States continue to be well managed and will be resolved in due course in accordance with international law.

• Canada welcomes navigation in its Arctic waters provided that ships comply with Canadian laws on safety, security and the protection of the environment.

• A Chinese research vessel, the Xue Long, requested Canadian consent to navigate Canada's Arctic waters in the summer of 2017. Canada, satisfied that the vessel would comply with all relevant legislation and regulations, consented.

Questions occasionally arise in press articles about whether Canada is doing enough to assert our sovereignty in the Arctic. As activity in the region increases, concerns such as pollution, safety and security are often mischaracterized as threats to Canadian sovereignty.
No one disputes Canada's sovereignty over the lands of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, covering in excess of 1.4 million square kilometres and containing more than 36,500 islands. The only exception is 1.3-square-kilometre Hans Island between Ellesmere Island and Greenland, which is claimed by Denmark. Canada has two maritime boundary disputes in the Arctic: one with the US regarding a portion of the Beaufort Sea (6,250 square nautical miles); and a second with Denmark regarding two small zones in the Lincoln Sea (totaling 65 square nautical miles). Each disagreement is well managed, and will be resolved peacefully and in due course in accordance with international law.
The disagreement over the waterways commonly referred to as the Northwest Passage is not about its ownership but rather concerns the extent of Canada's control over foreign navigation. All the waters within the Arctic archipelago are internal waters of Canada by virtue of historic title. For greater clarity, Canada drew straight baselines around its Arctic Islands in 1986. All waters landward of the baselines are internal waters and Canada has an unfettered right to regulate them as it would land.
The US, however, claims that a strait used for international navigation runs through the Northwest Passage, which would give all foreign ships a right of transit passage. In 1988, Canada and the United States entered into the "Arctic Cooperation Agreement" that ensures the US seeks Canada's consent prior to any voyage by a US icebreaker through the Canadian Arctic archipelago.
As a matter of policy, Canada permits international navigation in the Northwest Passage as long as conditions and controls established by Canada to protect safety, security, and the environment are met.

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