Clean and Healthy Oceans

Oceans are an important part of our culture and a lot of us rely on healthy oceans and clean coastlines. That’s why we launched the Oceans Protection Plan in 2016, which has put in place world-leading shipping safety; strengthened protections for our coasts and marine life, including endangered whales, and opened and reopened Coast Guard stations, to keep people safe.

A re-elected Liberal government will:

  • Renew and expand the Coastal Restoration fund so that we can restore aquatic habitats.
  • Make new investments in areas like tidal wetlands, seagrass meadows, and riparian habitats that have a high potential to absorb and store carbon.
  • Modernize the Oceans Act to explicitly consider climate change impacts on marine ecosystems and species in regional ocean management with measurable progress indicators tied to management objectives.
  • Expand the Ghost Gear Program to continue to clean up our oceans and coasts from lost and abandoned fishing gear and ocean plastics that endanger sea life, impact fish stocks, and pollute the ocean.
  • Invest $50 million over the next 5 years to support community shoreline and oceans plastic cleanup.
  • Create a national, interdisciplinary working group around climate-resilient ocean conservation planning.
  • Expand climate vulnerability work to better inform marine conservation planning and management.
  • Continue to protect key marine species, including the Southern Resident Killer Whale, the North Atlantic Right Whale, and the St. Lawrence Estuary Beluga.
  • Advance the historic $647 million Pacific Salmon Strategy launched in June and make new investments to conserve and restore Wild Atlantic Salmon.