A strong marine safety system includes access to a broad range of response tools for oil spills, such as Alternative Response Measures. Canada’s current oil spill preparedness and response system focuses on conventional techniques to contain and collect the oil. Alternative Response Measures would complement these techniques and help address important challenges to oil spill response such as large spills, spills in remote areas, or spills in poor weather conditions.
As part of the Oceans Protection Plan, legislative amendments are being contemplated that would enable the careful and appropriate use of Alternative Response Measures. The Government of Canada developed a Discussion Paper to provide information and seek feedback on the potential legislative amendments that would be required to put in place the ARMS framework.
From Spring to early Fall 2022, engagement with Indigenous peoples and stakeholders was carried out on: Canada’s oil spill response regimes, the science underlying alternative response measures, and the proposed legislative amendments. The “What We Heard” report (PDF, 494 KB) summarizes engagement with Indigenous Peoples and stakeholders across Canada and responds to questions raised during engagement.