The Canadian government has reiterated its commitment to a healthy environment, with clean waters and clean air, and has released the first results from its strict environmental measures for wastewater on cruise ships.
The Canadian regulations exceed international standards and were put in place this year as part of the restart of cruise ships entering and operating in Canada’s waters. As part of this new suite of environmental measures, the cruise industry was, and continues to be, required to document and report to Transport Canada on implementation. Compliance with the enhanced measures is verified during formal inspections of cruise ships. The first set of results from this reporting demonstrates that the cruise ship industry has successfully implemented the new measures thus far this year.
The Canadian government says this is significant progress towards reducing the environmental impacts of cruise ships and other vessels on the water. These strict measures, along with additional planned measures for other areas of concern, including scrubber discharges that release acidic wastewater into the ocean, will continue to help keep waters and environment clean.
The Honourable Omar Alghabra, Minister of Transport, said: “Cruise ships are an important part of our economy and tourism sector, and we must all work together to reduce their impact on the environment, and keep our waters safe and clean for everyone. These new environmental measures are a first step towards making shipping cleaner and protecting our waters from coast to coast to coast.”
The Honourable Joyce Murray, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, added: “Protecting the oceans and their ecosystems is a top priority. These important measures, which exceed international standards, demonstrate how the Government of Canada is taking strong action to protect the oceans for the future. This charts a more sustainable course for the tourism industry.”
