Oil spill management in Canada

Preventing oil spills is the most effective way to protect the environment and human health. The Government of Canada has a comprehensive prevention framework for oil spills in Canada from federally regulated sectors, including:

• Setting the rules for design, construction, and operation of oil carrying transportation.
• Maintaining aids to marine navigation and hydrographic charts.
• Helping industry, including small businesses, identify potential environmental risks, develop emergency plans and understand their responsibilities.

Inspections and other monitoring activities promote compliance with legislation, regulations, and standards.

With clear and careful planning, governments and industry can be ready to respond effectively to an oil spill to minimize the impacts to the environment, community and economy.

Preparedness activities include:

• Strengthening partnerships and capacity within the environmental emergency response community.
• Helping the industry be ready in the event of a spill and leading response operations if a spill occurs.
• Maintaining equipment, training and exercises to make sure everyone responds to a spill quickly and effectively.
• Setting out the policies and regulations for federally regulated sectors for preparedness and response in the event of an oil spill.

Canada has a strong track record for preventing oil spills, however we must be able to respond if and when they happen. Environmental response requires the close collaboration and coordination of many players, often through an incident command centre. Depending on the location of an oil spill, federal, provincial, territorial, Indigenous communities, and regional governments, as well as industry partners, play a vital response role.

Canada's oil spill prevention and response system is built on the Polluter Pays Principle, where the responsible party is legally responsible for reasonable costs related to preventative measures, cleanup, and pollution damages. If the polluter is unknown, unwilling, or unable to respond to a spill, then a government agency (provincial, territorial, or federal) will direct the response operations.

Polluters are responsible for reporting a spill and cleaning it up.

During an incident, a variety of response tools may be used, including booms, skimmers, and response boats.

When an oil spill occurs, there are short-term and long-term impacts on the environment. In some cases, the environment may recover quickly, depending on the oil type, frequency, and volume released, as well as the response efforts, and natural processes, which may degrade the oil. However, oil can have longer-term impacts, like ongoing contamination of ecosystems and wildlife, limiting the ability of local communities to consume foods (e.g., fishery closures). Spills can also have cultural and economic impacts, such as damage to fisheries and tourism, and may impact the ability of Indigenous communities to exercise their rights to fish, harvest, or to engage in cultural practices.

In these cases, careful planning and coordination support the recovery of the affected environment(s) and communities. This can include long-term environmental monitoring and applying mitigation measures that protect human and environmental health. Environmental recovery may be achieved by identifying recovery goals, carrying out remediation measures, and establishing long-term monitoring objectives.

The Polluter Pays Principle makes sure polluters pay for the reasonable damages and losses. This principle is implemented through existing legislation that holds polluters responsible for spills and ensures that they have the resources in place to cover their liabilities.

Strict liability and mandatory insurance requirements are part of this system. Compensation is provided through government-mandated private insurance requirements for industry, as well as various international and/or domestic funds, such as Canada's Ship-Source Oil Pollution Fund and Fund for Railway Accidents Involving Designated Goods.