Environmental Response

International Cooperation

Government of Canada Assists the United States in Oil Spill Cleanup in the Gulf of Mexico
June 6, 2010 - Dartmouth, Nova Scotia

North Atlantic Coast Guard Forum

The objective of the North Atlantic Coast Guard Forum (NACGF), which was formed in 2007, is to increase cooperation amongst member countries on matters related to maritime safety and security in the region. 

At the inaugural meeting it was agreed that the NACGF would be non-binding, voluntary, neither policy nor regulatory-oriented and would operate within existing legal frameworks.  It was agreed that this forum would not duplicate work undertaken in other international fora.
 

International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Cooperation

Canada is signatory to the International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Cooperation (OPRC). Under this agreement, Canada can be called upon to provide assistance to a marine pollution incident to other signatory states. Likewise, Canada could call upon other signatory states for assistance in a major incident.

More information on the OPRC convention is available at the following site:

www.imo.org

Joint Marine Pollution Contingency Plan

The Environmental Response branch of the Canadian Coast Guard and the United States Coast Guard Office of Response are the custodians of the Canada-United States Joint Marine Pollution Contingency Plan. The purpose of this plan is to outline and define the roles and responsibilities of the various players who would participate in the cleanup efforts of a marine pollution incident occurring in the contiguous waters between Canada and the United-States.

Canada also has international agreements with other countries, such as France for St. Pierre and Miquelon and Denmark for Greenland, that share contiguous waters.