Ottawa moving to reissue fishing licences to Mi’kmaq group despite Inuit objections

OTTAWA — The federal government says it is proposing to reissue fishing licences to a coalition of Mi’kmaq First Nations in Atlantic Canada, despite objections from Inuit in Nunavut who successfully sued to have the original licences quashed.

In 2021, Inuit asked the Federal Court to set aside a decision by the minister of fisheries to transfer the licences for Greenland halibut and shrimp from seafood company Clearwater Foods to the coalition, after the Mi’kmaq group partnered to buy the company in January of that year.

The licences are for zones off the coast of Baffin Island. They were originally held by Clearwater Foods but were reissued as part of the sale of the company to a coalition of seven Mi’kmaq First Nations.

The suit was launched by Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., and the Qikiqtani Inuit Association. The organizations represent Inuit across Nunavut and the Qikiqtaaluk region, respectively.

They argued at the time Ottawa failed to consider provisions of the Nunavut Agreement, which says the federal government should recognize the importance of the adjacency principle and “give special consideration to these factors when allocating commercial fishing licences.”

The adjacency principle recognizes that the communities closest to a resource are usually most likely to benefit from that resource.

In its lawsuit, Inuit argued Nunavut fishers have only held about 50 per cent of total fishing quotas for all species off Nunavut’s coast. They said that was disproportionately low compared to the 90 per cent of quotas held by fisheries in Atlantic provinces off their own coasts — something the Trudeau government and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans had acknowledged.

Ottawa argued Inuit had the opportunity to buy Clearwater and had been invited to participate in the purchasing effort, but declined to do so.

“It is clear that in this case Nunavut interests strongly support the licence reallocation through means other than a willing buyer/willing seller,” says a departmental memo, which federal lawyers shared during the court proceedings.

“In this case, an entire company has been sold with the expectation that the licences issued to the company would be reissued in respect of the new commercial, financing, and ownership structures of the parties.”

In July of last year, a federal judge ruled Ottawa’s decision was “unreasonable” because the government hadn’t properly considered the adjacency principle outlined in the Nunavut agreement.

The court did rule the decision was procedurally fair but still ordered a review.

On Friday, Fisheries and Oceans Canada said it had completed its preliminary analysis and is proposing to reissue the licences as it had before.

“DFO is implementing the court ordered redetermination through a transparent and fair process that enables the parties to put forward all relevant information and views, so that the minister’s final decision is fully informed, fair and reasonable, and takes into consideration the Nunavut Agreement,” the department said in a press release.

“The parties have until Jan. 9 to review DFO’s preliminary analysis and provide the department with their responses. DFO will consider any issues raised by the parties in their submitted responses before making a final recommendation to the minister.”

Nunavut Tunngavik declined to comment on the preliminary decision. It said it was preparing a response.

Attempts to reach the coalition of Mi’kmaq First Nations were unsuccessful.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 5, 2025.

Nick Murray, The Canadian Press