Oceans Act Marine Protected Areas in Canada

Fisheries and Oceans Canada manages this collection of designated Marine Protected Areas and Areas of Interest under the Oceans Act. The dataset supports the long-term conservation of nature, ecosystem services, and cultural values for six specific conservation purposes. It includes geospatial data in formats like KML, SHP, and ESRI REST services.

Use Cases

• Analyze the spatial distribution of MPAs established for the conservation of endangered or threatened marine species and their habitats.
• Map Areas of Interest for new MPAs to identify regions prioritized for the conservation of unique habitats or high biodiversity.
• Assess the legal and management frameworks for MPAs designated for the protection of commercial and non-commercial fishery resources.

Strengths

• Managed by the authoritative government agency, Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
• Covers six distinct conservation purposes as defined by the Oceans Act.
• Offers multiple geospatial file formats including KML, SHP, and ESRI REST for interoperability.

Limitations

• Unknown total number of records or specific geographic features per MPA.
• Sample data and a detailed column schema are unavailable for preview.
• May contain areas at various stages of progress, not all fully designated.

Provenance

Source

Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Freshness

Last updated on 2026-03-24.

Geography

Canada