Transport Canada has the responsibility for regulating Arctic shipping in Canada as part of the Arctic Shipping Pollution Prevention Regulations. A Zone-Date System (ZDS) is used North of the 60° latitude. The ZDS is based on historical data of ice conditions up to the early 1970's and on the premise that the ice conditions are consistent from year-to-year. The ZDS consists of sixteen of geographic regions (Zones) and an associated Table that indicates the dates that each class of vessel is allowed in each geographical region. The Arctic Ice Regime Shipping System (AIRSS) is used by vessels wishing to access the Arctic Control Zones outside permissible dates for the vessels. The AIRSS, in contrast, allows shipping based on the actual, not historical, ice conditions. The objective of this study was to find how climate change would influence the veracity of the Zones and Dates used in the ZDS. This paper presents a methodology to evaluate Canada's Arctic shipping Regulations. The methodology comprises of analyzing the ice conditions in the North West Passage (NWP) shipping lanes and the access routes to the Port of Churchill in Hudson Strait. The existing and potential changes to ice regimes in the NWP and Hudson Strait shipping lanes due to the seasonal temperature variations and due to impact of climate change are examined. The length of the shipping season in the NWP and Hudson Strait is analyzed for each Zone by both the ZDS and the AIRSS, and both systems are then compared.
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