Global ocean health is in decline due to a variety of human activities such as fi shing, shipping, and off shore oil and gas exploration and production. Th e impacts of these activities, including declines in fi sh stocks, pollution, and invasive species, are being compounded by the multiple manifestations of climate change and ocean acidifi cation. Th ese pressures on ocean ecosystems are evident in Canada. With the longest coastline in the world and a larger marine jurisdiction than any other country, Canada has strong maritime traditions in three oceans—the Atlantic, the Pacifi c and the Arctic. Canadians therefore have a special responsibility to assum  leadership in ocean science, stewardship, and conservation. Sustaining ocean health requires ecosystem-based approaches to management. Marine protected areas (MPAs) are a central tool in an ecosystem-based approach. In 1999 the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) defi ned an MPA as, “any area of intertidal or sub-tidal terrain, together with its overlying water and associated fl ora, fauna, historical and cultural features, which has been reserved by law or other eff ective means to protect part or all of the enclosed environment.” In 2008, to clarify that the purpose of protected areas needs to be conservation-focused, the IUCN adopted a new general defi nition that applies to marine, terrestrial and freshwater environments: A clearly defi ned geographical space, recognised, dedicated and managed, through legal or other eff ective means, to achieve the long-term conservation of nature with associated ecosystem services and cultural values. (Dudley 2008) Within this general defi nition, the strictness of protection can vary extensively from one MPA to another, and among zones of an individual MPA. MPAs or zones from which extractive activities are strictly prohibited are generally referred to as no-take reserves. Canada has made many national and international commitments to complete a national network of MPAs, including the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development, the 2004 United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Programme of Work on Protected Areas, and subsequent CBD decisions in 2006, 2008, and 2010. Recognizing the importance of healthy oceans, Canada has also made considerable eff ort to develop a policy framework to establish a comprehensive system of MPAs (DFO 2005, 2008, 2010a,b,c, DFO and WWF 2009). Nevertheless, MPA development in Canada, with protection of less than 1% of the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone, is lagging far behind its urgent need and behind that of many other countries. 

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