Canada just signed away its ability to fish or mine across nearly half the planet's surface — on purpose, and with 100 other countries doing the same.

  • $82 million (CAD) pledged over five years to global ocean monitoring
  • ~100 countries now party to the High Seas Treaty
  • Nearly 50% of Earth's surface sits in the "high seas" the treaty can now protect
  • Only 1.5% of those high seas are currently protected

On September 23, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Canada's formal ratification of the Global Ocean Treaty — known more formally as the High Seas "Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction" Treaty — at a UN General Assembly event in New York. The treaty became international law in January, but ratification legally binds Canada to it and gives Ottawa a seat at the table when member nations meet for the first time in January 2027.

What the treaty actually does

Until now, the high seas — ocean areas beyond any country's territorial waters — had no legal mechanism for creating protected zones. The treaty changes that, giving governments the tools to establish fully protected marine sanctuaries in international waters, require environmental assessments for high-seas activities, and set rules for sharing benefits from marine genetic resources.

That matters because more than 800 marine species migrate between national waters and the high seas, according to Greenpeace Canada. A sanctuary that only exists within one country's borders can't protect a whale or a shark for the full length of its journey.

"Bordering three of the world's oceans, Canada has an essential role to play in protecting the waters that sustain us all." — Sien Van den broeke, Nature & Biodiversity Campaigner, Greenpeace Canada

Where the $82 million goes

Canada's commitment isn't just symbolic. The money, announced alongside the ratification, will fund:

  • Year-round monitoring moorings in the rapidly warming Arctic Ocean
  • Autonomous underwater gliders operating beneath sea ice
  • Expanded monitoring of the Labrador Sea and Davis Strait
  • More than doubling Canada's contribution to the global Argo ocean-climate network

The funding flows through OceanEye, an international monitoring alliance Carney co-chairs with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. At the same New York event, the alliance raised more than $339 million in cash, in-kind support, and equipment from 31 member nations, including France, Germany, Brazil, Mexico, and South Korea.

What happens next

Currently just 10% of the global ocean carries any form of protection, and only 3.5% is fully or highly protected — far short of the international goal of protecting 30% of the world's oceans by 2030. Canada's ratification gives it standing to push for ambitious, connected sanctuary networks when the treaty's first conference of parties convenes in January 2027.

Canada is also set to host the 2027 Our Ocean Conference in Halifax, putting it in a position to shape how the first generation of high-seas sanctuaries actually gets drawn on the map. "We intend to be at every table where the future of the ocean is decided, and to continue to raise our ambitions," Carney said at the announcement.

For a treaty two decades in the making — the High Seas Alliance, a coalition of more than 80 conservation groups, pushed for it for over ten years — ratification is the moment the paperwork turns into protected water.

Sources: Greenpeace Canada press release and The Globe and Mail.