B.C. and the federal government have formalized a deal to keep the oil tanker ban on the North Coast permanent and unchanged, a move Premier David Eby and coastal First Nations leaders are calling a major win for the region.
The Canada-B.C. Cooperative Prosperity Agreement locks in the ban on heavy oil tankers along B.C.’s North Coast, along with new commitments to watershed protection, clean energy transmission, and critical mineral development.
“Protecting the environment, growing the economy and working in partnership with First Nations and local communities go hand in hand,” Eby said, adding that the deal defends thousands of jobs tied to the coast’s marine economy — worth an estimated $3 billion a year.
Marilyn Slett, president of the Coastal First Nations-Great Bear Initiative and elected Chief of the Heiltsuk Nation, says the timing matters. She points to a wave of major project announcements over the past year that have increased shipping traffic through the North Coast, and says the agreement gives communities more certainty as that growth continues.
The tanker moratorium has been in effect since 2019, when the federal government passed the Oil Tanker Moratorium Act. It bars tankers carrying more than 12,500 metric tons of crude oil or persistent oil products from loading or unloading at North Coast ports.
Up to 30 percent of jobs on the North Coast are tied to the coastal economy, including fisheries, tourism and clean energy.
