Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Tuesday (November 10, 2026) that his government has not made a decision about lifting its decade-long moratorium on offshore oil and gas exploration in the Arctic, a move that some Northern leaders have advocated for as a way to increase the region’s economic self-sufficiency.
Mr. “It is respectful engagement with that self-government. Carney’s government is considering lifting the ban on oil and gas activities in the Arctic, quoting a Department of Finance official. The Finance Department referred Reuters to Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment. President Barack Obama agreed to impose it to protect the region’s fragile marine ecosystem from the risk of oil spills. U.S. President Donald Trump later reopened parts of the Arctic to oil and gas drilling, but the Canadian moratorium remained in place. The accord stated that northern residents should have more say in how their resources are developed, and laid out an agreement for the management, regulation, and revenue-sharing from potential fossil fuel development in the Arctic.
Last week’s federal budget contained a reference to C$11 million ($7.79 million) in funding over four years to “support the governance and oversight of offshore oil and gas activities in the Arctic Ocean. The Toronto Star reported on Monday (November 9, 2026) that Mr. Canada’s moratorium on Arctic offshore oil and gas exploration has been in place since 2016, when then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and then-U.S. The Canadian policy, which is set to expire in 2028, is reviewed every five years. In 2023, the Northwest Territories, Yukon and Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, which represents Inuit communities in the Western Arctic, signed the Western Arctic-Tariuq Accord with the Canadian government.
Carney told reporters in Montreal the budget item represents “capacity funding” for Inuit leadership, with whom the federal government has agreed to jointly manage natural resources in the North. “It is absolutely not, in any way, shape or form, a decision about lifting the moratorium,” Mr. Carney said. “Any possible discussion with respect to the future of the moratorium would respect existing agreements, Inuit and territorial self-government, and uphold Canada’s strong environmental standards,” Canada’s Minister of Northern and Arctic Affairs Rebecca Chartrand said in an emailed statement.
