The federal government is setting aside $11 million over four years for Arctic offshore oil and gas governance, while insisting the funding does not signal a move to lift the region’s drilling moratorium.
Ottawa told Cabin Radio the money will support environmental monitoring, government capacity and shared decision-making under the Tariuq Accord, a 2023 agreement involving the Inuvialuit, Northwest Territories, Yukon and Ottawa.
The funding comes as Prime Minister Mark Carney says Ottawa is engaging with northern governments and the Inuvialuit about the future of the offshore drilling ban, as reported by the CBC on Tuesday.
In a statement to Cabin Radio, federal northern and Arctic affairs minister Rebecca Chartrand said the budget funding is “absolutely not, in any way, shape, or form, a decision about lifting the moratorium.”
Canada announced an Arctic offshore oil and gas moratorium in December 2016, designating all Canadian Arctic waters off limits to oil and gas licensing.
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The Tariuq Accord established a co-management and revenue-sharing framework for offshore oil and gas in the Western Arctic. It was intended to give the Inuvialuit and territorial governments a role in decisions about potential development, with Indigenous partners participating as equal parties in governance.
Under the original agreement, the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation was to receive $2.5 million over five years to help implement and administer the accord.
The new $11-million commitment is separate funding proposed in Budget 2026 to support governance responsibilities, including for the parties connected to the accord.
Chartrand said discussions with northern leaders have emphasized the importance of respecting existing agreements, involving Indigenous governments and northerners in decisions affecting their communities, and maintaining environmental protections.
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Any discussions about the moratorium will respect existing agreements, Inuit and territorial self-government and Canada’s environmental standards, the minister said.
In response to Cabin Radio’s request for comment, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami declined to directly comment, instead saying it deferred to the IRC on matters affecting the area.
The IRC, contacted for comment, had not responded by the time of publication.
