Simplify marine protected areas governance
Petitioners ask the Minister to simplify federal responsibilities and communication on marine protected areas. The government responds that DFO will coordinate with Parks Canada and ECCC to clarify roles and update interdepartmental governance for MPAs.
Why we would sign this petition
- It would clarify which federal branches control MPAs, helping ensure protections intended as no‑take zones are actually implemented.
- Clearer roles can improve coordination to expand and manage MPAs, supporting fish recovery and the spillover benefits cited by petitioners.
- Simplified communication may speed decision‑making across departments, reducing gaps caused by multiple MPA classifications and overlapping authorities.
Why we wouldn’t sign this petition
- Reassigning or clarifying responsibilities across departments could be administratively complex, costly, and time‑consuming.
- Federal simplification may not resolve provincial, territorial or Indigenous jurisdictional issues that also affect fishing access and MPA outcomes.
- Administrative changes alone may not stop fishing in MPAs without enforceable regulatory changes, monitoring, and resources.
The summary and both sets of reasons are AI-generated from the petition and given equal weight. Claims are the petitioners’ own; consult the official record for the full text.
Official petition
PETITION TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS IN PARLIAMENT ASSEMBLED We, the undersigned, citizens of Canada draw the attention of the House to the following: THAT, WHEREAS the World Parks Congress recommended in 2002 that 20-30% of all ocean habitats be protected from fishing within "no take" zones; WHEREAS Canada has designated only 1.98% of its pacific waters to be Marine Protected Areas (MPA's); WHEREAS MPA's have been found to have a positive "spill over effect" for neighbouring fishing areas, resulting in larger sizes and numbers of fish; WHEREAS of its 161 MPA's, 95 are intended to be free from any kind of harvesting. However, fishing occurs in all but one of them; WHEREAS this situation is the result of there being 11 classifications for MPA's; an MPA will be regulated by a different government branch depending on its classification, while the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) regulates the closure of fishing areas. THEREFORE, YOUR PETITIONERS request that the federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans work with all relevant government branches to simplify multi-lateral communication and responsibilities on the subject of Marine Protected Areas.
Government response
Response by the Minister of Fisheries Signed by Ernie Klassen Fisheries and Oceans Canada has established interdepartmental governance structures to enable collaboration on marine protected and conserved areas between relevant federal departments, including Parks Canada and Environment and Climate Change Canada. Collaboration between departments on marine conservation delivers important benefits, supporting healthy ecosystems, resilient coastal and Indigenous communities, and Canada’s overall quality of life. To strengthen how marine conservation benefits are captured and communicated, Fisheries and Oceans Canada will work collaboratively with Parks Canada and Environment and Climate Change Canada to review current practices and determine how best to improve the quality of public information on Canada’s progress towards the marine conservation target of conserving 30 per cent of marine and coastal areas by 2030. In addition, Fisheries and Oceans Canada is working in close collaboration with Parks Canada and Environment and Climate Change Canada to develop an updated federal framework on a collaborative approach to marine conservation. This work forms part of the Department’s response to the audit on Establishing Marine Protected Areas, conducted by the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, under the Office of the Auditor General, which was tabled in Parliament in November 2025. The development of this framework will serve to further align our federal approach to marine conservation and ensure that roles and responsibilities are clearly defined, and existing and emerging priorities are coordinated. Recent examples of the ongoing collaboration between Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Parks Canada and Environment and Climate Change Canada include the Great Bear Sea and the Southern Inuit Nunangat Area Agreement Projects Finance for Permanence Agreements, where the departments and agencies partnered with Indigenous Peoples and provinces and territories to develop comprehensive conservation plans using conservation tools from each organization to protect important marine ecosystems.