Fisheries and Oceans Canada's National Guidance for Marine Spatial Planning

Marine spatial planning (MSP) is an important process for advancing Canada's ocean agenda. It has potential to support Canada's national and international ocean commitments, including those for:

• sustainable ocean management
• biodiversity conservation
• the blue economy

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) is responsible for leading and facilitating integrated oceans management as mandated under Canada's Oceans Act. MSP is a collaborative process through which integrated oceans management may be achieved.

MSP does not replace existing:

• management
• regulations
• policies

Instead, it brings together existing processes and those responsible for them to advance. In Canada, MSP engages:

• federal departments
• provincial and territorial governments
• Indigenous governments
• relevant stakeholders

On this page

• Guidance
  • Goals
  • Principles
  • Phases

Guidance

DFO has developed this national guidance for MSP, which provides high-level MSP goals and principles and a series of MSP phases and activities. This guidance can help to inform how DFO envisions MSP processes moving forward in planning areas, which are unique:

• ecologically
• economically
• socially
• culturally

This national guidance is based on international guidance for MSP provided by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission under the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and broadly reflects the vision of Canada's Oceans Strategy (PDF, 1.5 MB). It outlines DFO's vision for the MSP process in Canada and is intended to support ongoing, collaborative work towards building a shared process and objectives for how we use and manage the ocean. With this guidance, the overall approach to MSP is united from coast to coast to coast, while still being flexible enough for each planning area to build an MSP process that reflects their unique environments reflects their unique environments.

DFO welcomes the knowledge, perspectives and interests of those involved in MSP in tailoring the use of this guidance in unique planning areas.

Goals

DFO's high-level goals for MSP in Canada are to:

1. Enable integrated management of our ocean
   • Aims to collaborate to coordinate ocean uses, integrate information and knowledge, and advance environmental, economic, social and cultural objectives
2. Respect regional diversity
   • Aims to reflect diverse ecological, economic, social and cultural contexts across planning areas, while also being united under a shared set of national principles, processes and deliverables

Principles

Additional principles may be identified in planning areas that complement and supplement these to reflect unique contexts. These principles provide a nationally consistent backdrop for all involved in MSP to:

• engage constructively
• assess progress
• ensure accountability

DFO's national MSP principles include:

• Participatory
  • Processes are conducted in a manner that is inclusive and that actively engages all involved in MSP
• Sustainable development
  • Environmental, economic, social and cultural values are taken into account, with the aim of meeting the needs of present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs
• Evidence-based
  • Processes are informed by the best information from diverse scientific disciplines and knowledge bases, including Indigenous Knowledge
• Respect for rights and existing activities
  • Processes progress within the current constitutional, legislative, regulatory and policy context of Canada, including the rights of Indigenous Peoples
• Transparency
  • Processes can be easily understood by all, openly sharing how work is completed, how decisions are made how government resources are allocated and how decisions may affect the public
• Ecosystem-based
  • Ecosystem sustainability and function are of primary importance in MSP processes

Phases

The phases are not necessarily linear. Depending on the circumstances of each planning area, the order of activities can change.

As the MSP process evolves, activities can be worked on at the same time, repeated or skipped.

• Getting ready
  • Building on past ocean initiatives that can support MSP
  • Identifying strategies to advance MSP
  • Identifying who should be involved in MSP
• Gathering information
  • Integrating information from diverse sources
  • Creating insights on/about the planning area and how it is used and managed
  • Describing the planning area and how it is used
• Building partnerships
  • Identifying roles of those involved in MSP
  • Defining a shared vision for MSP, its priorities and its outcomes
  • Working collaboratively on MSP priorities
• Envisioning scenarios
  • Building scenarios for the future of the planning area
  • Reaching consensus on the preferred scenario
• Making a plan
  • Developing a shared marine spatial plan
• Implementing a plan
  • Working collaboratively to implement measures