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Report on the designation of the Tuvaijuittuq Marine Protected Area (2024)

The Tuvaijuittuq Marine Protected Area (MPA) was designated through a ministerial order under the Oceans Act on July 24, 2024. As per subsection 35.1(4) of the Oceans Act.

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Area of the sea designated by the Tuvaijuittuq MPA

Map described in the text below.

Figure 1. Map of the Tuvaijuittuq Marine Protected Area

The Tuvaijuittuq MPA covers an area of 319,411 km2. It includes the marine waters off northern Ellesmere Island. The MPA’s boundary starts at the low-water mark and extends to the outward boundary of Canada’s Exclusive Economic Zone (see Figure 1). A portion of the MPA is located within the Nunavut Settlement Area. The Tuvaijuittuq MPA includes the seabed, the subsoil to a depth of 5 metres and the water column, including the sea ice. See the bottom of the Survey Plan Details for a PDF version.

In March 2024, the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard agreed to a request from the Qikiqtani Inuit Association (QIA) to repeal the 2019 ministerial order and replace it with Order No. 2 Designating the Tuvaijuittuq Marine Protected Area (Order No. 2). QIA’s request would provide more time to collect information for the area, consider long-term protection approaches, including the development of an Inuit Protected and Conserved Area (IPCA), and to complete the necessary community and stakeholder consultations in light of delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Summary of the consultations

Community consultation and stakeholder engagement

Between November 18 and December 6, 2022, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), Parks Canada (PC), the QIA and the Government of Nunavut (GN) conducted joint community consultations to share information related to ongoing and completed assessments for the area and to seek additional input on community use of the area and perspectives around marine protection.

The 5 affected Inuit communities consulted were:

Following QIA’s request for a second Ministerial Order MPA in Tuvaijuittuq, DFO, PC, the QIA and the GN consulted with all 5 Hunters and Trappers Organizations (HTOs), hamlet councils and broader communities. The purpose of this new round of consultations was to seek feedback from the communities on a proposal for repealing and replacing the existing ministerial order. These consultations occurred between April and July 2023.

At the same time, DFO and its partners engaged key stakeholders on the proposal, which included the same stakeholders engaged on the 2019 ministerial order, along with additional groups identified in collaboration with PC, the QIA and GN.

Nunavut

Stakeholders in Nunavut were engaged through the Nunavut Marine Conservation Target Steering Committee represented by:

Northwest Territories and the Inuvialuit Settlement Region

Stakeholders in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region were engaged on the proposal through the Beaufort Sea Partnership Regional Coordination Committee. This committee includes:

Other federal departments and agencies

Other federal departments and agencies were engaged on the proposal, including:

Non-governmental organizations and industry

The following Industry and non-government organizations were engaged between July and August 2023:

Key cruise ship industry stakeholders were also engaged during that period. Of the external stakeholder organizations engaged, only WWF-Canada responded and was fully supportive of the proposal.

Pre-publication in Canada Gazette, Part I

The proposal for Order No. 2 was pre-published in the Canada Gazette, Part I, for a 30-day comment period between December 23, 2023, and January 22, 2024. Advance notice of the pre-publication was sent to community organizations, partners and stakeholders. During that period, comments were received from one individual. These comments were supportive of protecting the area and its biodiversity. Commenters encouraged the implementation of long-term protection as soon as possible.

Approval and assessments required under the Nunavut Agreement

In October 2023, DFO submitted its proposal for Order No. 2 to the Nunavut Planning Commission (NPC) for a conformity determination, per requirements set out in the Nunavut Agreement. This process determines whether a project proposal conforms to the appropriate land use plan. The NPC concluded that a conformity determination was not needed for this proposal.

The Nunavut Wildlife Management Board (NWMB) was initially engaged on the proposal in June 2023 during its quarterly meeting. Formal submission of the proposal for NWMB approval was tabled at their meeting on March 26, 2024. During this meeting, the GN raised its concern to the NWMB about the prohibition of recreational, outfitting and tourism activities in Tuvaijuittuq that fall outside of those provided for under the Nunavut Agreement. Despite the GN’s concerns, on April 11, 2024, the NWMB approved the proposal, per subsection 5.2.34(a) and to sections 9.3.2, 15.2.1, and 15.3.4 of the Nunavut Agreement. The Board considered, “that potential economic opportunities provided through the Inuit Impact and Benefit Agreement are likely to exceed those that may be lost during this interim period.”

Summary of the information considered when designating the Tuvaijuittuq MPA

The Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard considered several key issues before designating the new Order in Tuvaijuittuq:

Ecological importance of the area

The Tuvaijuittuq MPA is considered globally, nationally and regionally unique due to the presence of multi-year pack ice. The area is also believed to maintain critically important habitat for Arctic under-ice communities. It also plays an important role for several ice-dependent species. This area is part of the Canadian High Arctic that is projected to retain multi-year ice in the long term. It will likely become an important refuge for ice-associated species as sea ice loss continues throughout the Arctic due to climate change.

The Tuvaijuittuq MPA overlaps with 3 ecologically and biologically significant areas that were identified by DFO in 2011. A part of Tuvaijuittuq was also selected by PC as a candidate site to be part of its system of national marine conservation areas. Tuvaijuittuq is listed in QIA’s 2022 Regional Conservation Approach prospectus as a marine area for conservation. The importance of Tuvaijuittuq has also been acknowledged by academia and environmental non-governmental organizations, who have been calling for its protection considering the area’s increasing significance in a changing climate.

Risk from human activities

The Arctic climate is experiencing rapid change, resulting in the loss of sea ice, and more specifically, loss of multi-year pack ice. These changes are presenting new opportunities and challenges in the Arctic. For example, warming may result in an extended shipping season and the creation of new shipping routes. This may, in turn, make industry activities more accessible across the Arctic, such as:

Increased accessibility for these types of activities poses a risk to the habitat, biodiversity and ecosystem function within Tuvaijuittuq.

Designating Tuvaijuittuq as an MPA by ministerial order under the Oceans Act helps to protect and conserve the important biological and ecological features of the area while additional information is collected to inform long-term decision making.

Benefits and costs of the MPA designation

The cost-benefit analysis for Order No. 2 considered the impacts on stakeholders and Inuit, primarily in qualitative terms. Federal government costs were evaluated quantitatively. The timeline for evaluating the potential impacts is 5 years (2024 to 2029) and the costs are presented in 2024 dollars using a discount rate of 7%.

Preliminary socio-economic analysis shows that the designation of Tuvaijuittuq as an MPA under the Oceans Act will result in low costs to:

The previous ministerial order had been in place since 2019; therefore, designating Order No. 2, which allows and prohibits the same activities, will not result in incremental costs or impacts to businesses or other stakeholders.

There has been limited vessel traffic in the area, both recently and historically. There are no active commercial or recreational fisheries in the MPA, and subsistence harvesting is limited.

There are no oil and gas licences within the Tuvaijuittuq area, and no offshore wells have been drilled within the MPA boundaries. The Geological Survey of Canada estimates a high probability that petroleum resources are present in the area; however, data are limited due to the remote nature and general inaccessibility of the area. Tuvaijuittuq’s thick multi-year pack ice and the expectation that the area will stay covered in summer sea ice longer than any other area in the Canadian Arctic, currently make it inaccessible. As a result, it will not be possible to physically or economically extract resources in the foreseeable future.

Overall, prospects for the development of petroleum resources within the MPA — as early as 2035 or in the very long term with improved ice conditions — remain highly speculative (NRCan, 2022). The area is covered by the 2016 federal indefinite moratorium which is reviewed every 5 years. The moratorium prohibits new oil and gas exploration licensing in the Canadian Arctic Ocean. Considering this, no incremental costs to the oil and gas sector are expected as a result of this MPA.

As information on the potential ecological outcomes of the MPA are not fully understood, the benefits could not be assessed quantitatively. However, benefits are anticipated via the continued prohibition of new activities (freezing the footprint) within the area until long-term protection can be put in place. These include benefits through ecosystem services and non-use values.

Ecosystem services

Tuvaijuittuq provides unique and invaluable direct and indirect services to society by supporting Arctic marine and ice-associated ecosystems and biodiversity. Tuvaijuittuq is expected to support long-term ecosystem health in High Arctic marine waters by providing refuge for under-ice communities and ice-dependent species as summer sea ice continues to recede. Its protection will become especially important in the face of large-scale sea ice declines throughout the Arctic due to climate change.

Non-use values

The communities near the MPA and people living elsewhere in Canada are expected to derive non-use value from the services provided by the area. Preservation (keeping at current levels) and increases in non-use values typically occur over a period longer than 5 years. Tuvaijuittuq has been protected via a ministerial order MPA since 2019, and it is likely that non-use values may continue to increase as people become more aware of the steps being taken to conserve habitats and species within the Tuvaijuittuq area. Preserving these natural resources would also benefit Canadians as they learn about the cultural values that exist within the area.

Research

Order No. 2 will continue to support and encourage ongoing research initiatives in the area. New information will contribute to growing knowledge of the area, provide a baseline for marine research and monitoring, and increase education and public knowledge about the importance of this area.

Costs associated with the continued management of the Tuvaijuittuq MPA, including monitoring, enforcement, administration and scientific research, will continue to be carried by the federal government. The Tuvaijuittuq MPA is estimated to result in a total cost of $14 million (in 2024 dollars) over the 5-year period from 2024 to 2029, or an annual average cost of $3.4 million (in 2024 dollars) to the federal government. These government costs will be funded through existing resources.

While the analysis could not quantify the potential benefits or quantitatively compare the present values of costs and benefits, it is believed that any ecological, economic, social and cultural benefits of the MPA will outweigh the perceived costs.

Government of Canada priorities

The Tuvaijuittuq MPA contributes 5.55% to Canada’s protected ocean territory, and its continued protection is critical to meeting Canada’s commitment of conserving 25% of our lands and waters by 2025, and 30% of each by 2030. A similar commitment of conserving 30% of our lands and waters by 2030 was made globally in December 2022, when Parties to the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, replacing the CBD’s Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and its Aichi Targets.

The MPA also supports other government priorities, including reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples and implementation of land claim agreements, and contributes to the objectives of the jointly developed Inuit Nunangat Policy, developed to promote prosperity and support community and individual well-being throughout Inuit Nunangat with the goal of socio-economic and cultural equity between Inuit and other Canadians.

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