Help Canada Ratify the High Seas Treaty by 2026

In September 2025, 60 countries worldwide made history when they ratified the United Nations Treaty for Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction, otherwise known as the High Seas Treaty. This legally binding agreement, which will officially come into force in January of 2026, fills critical gaps for the protection of the high seas and allows countries to:

• Establish protected areas in international waters
• Manage activities previously unbeholden to impact assessments or monitoring
• Manage marine genetic resources and share benefits from them
• Work together to increase scientific understanding of the high seas

The high seas make up ⅔ of our global ocean. They provide us with oxygen and food and regulate much of our climate. But the ocean is facing unprecedented challenges. Overfishing, pollution, shipping, and climate change make it harder for the ocean to recover and thrive. Nascent industries like deep-sea mining and potential geoengineering projects threaten to increase the burden on an already overburdened ocean.

With the longest coastline in the world and bordering three international ocean basins, Canada’s involvement is vital to the future of our shared ocean. But even though Canada has signed the treaty, it still hasn’t ratified it.  

If we are to help protect our global ocean as a global community, we need a final push for remaining signatory countries to ratify the High Seas Treaty as soon as possible.

There is still time for Canada to ratify the High Seas Treaty and be a leader in shaping the future of ocean conservation. 

You can help make that happen.

Take action by emailing your local MP today!

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