Canada's Extended Continental Shelf Program

2016 Arctic Survey

The 2016 Canada-Sweden Polar Expedition was Canada’s final UNCLOS survey in the Arctic Ocean.

Video: Canada-Sweden Arctic Expedition 2016

Expedition Blogs 2016

written by Émilie Hébert-Houle (Teacher at Sea)

Canada is a coastal state with a large continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles (M) from shore. In 2003, Canada embarked on a history-making project to define the outer limits of this continental shelf in the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. The great scale of this endeavour brought together Canadian and international researchers to collect and analyze the data needed to achieve this goal.

Scientists are studying the Canadian continental shelf as part of the Extended Continental Shelf (ECS) Program, a large initiative set up to identify characteristics of the shelf under the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans and prepare Canada's extended continental shelf submission. The Program is also sometimes called the "UNCLOS Program" since the submission is being prepared in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea or UNCLOS.

UNCLOS is an international agreement that recognizes that coastal states have sovereign rights over the natural resources of the seabed and subsoil beyond 200 M as well as jurisdiction over certain activities, such as marine scientific research. Canada became a party to the Convention in December 2003. The Convention sets out a process for coastal states to define with precision the outer limits of their continental shelves and obtain international recognition for those limits. Since 2003, Canada has conducted multiple scientific surveys, including international joint icebreaker and ice camp expeditions in the central Arctic Ocean.

In 2013, Canada filed its submission with the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf regarding its outer limits in the Atlantic Ocean and provided preliminary information about its extended continental shelf in the Arctic Ocean. In May 2019, Canada filed the outer limits of its extended continental shelf in the Arctic Ocean, followed by an addendum filed in 2022.

Between 2025 and 2027, Canada will conduct additional expeditions in the central Arctic Ocean to further validate the country’s outer limits identified in its 2022 Arctic Ocean submission.