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Released: 2026-02-06 Sea ice is a defining feature of marine and coastal ecosystems in the Arctic and Northwest Atlantic oceans. Minimum sea ice extent, which occurs at the tail end of summer, declined from 1.53 million km2 in 1980 to 900,000 km2 in 2024 across Canadian waters. Loss of sea ice impacts people living in the North, particularly Inuit, who rely
Released: 2026-02-06
Sea ice is a defining feature of marine and coastal ecosystems in the Arctic and Northwest Atlantic oceans. Minimum sea ice extent, which occurs at the tail end of summer, declined from 1.53 million km2 in 1980 to 900,000 km2 in 2024 across Canadian waters. Loss of sea ice impacts people living in the North, particularly Inuit, who rely on sea ice for transportation, hunting and fishing.
Sea ice extent is decreasing in all of Canada’s marine bioregions
From the 1980s to the 2010s, three Arctic marine bioregions experienced a decrease in minimum sea ice extent greater than one-third of their decadal average. Decadal average minimum extents declined by 65% (-24,000 km2) in the Hudson Bay Complex, 43% (-27,000 km2) in the Eastern Arctic and 40% (-104,000 km2) in the Western Arctic.
In the Western Arctic, the frozen portion of the bioregion decreased from 48% to 29% (-19 percentage points) in the summer months from the 1980s to the 2010s; this decrease is comparable in size with the island of Newfoundland. Changing sea ice in the Arctic has implications for wildlife such as caribou, walrus and polar bears, for whom sea ice is an important part of their habitat.
On the east coast, the decadal average maximum sea ice extent declined 60% (-8,000 km2) in the Scotian Shelf bioregion from the 1980s to the 2010s. Over the same period, it declined by 29% (-63,000 km2) in the estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence and 20% (-88,000 km2) in the Newfoundland-Labrador Shelves. In the Newfoundland-Labrador Shelves, the frozen portion of the bioregion fell from 43% to 35% (-8 percentage points); in other words, the area that no longer freezes in winter is similar to the size of Lake Superior.
Low levels of sea ice recorded in 2024
In 2024, the monthly average minimum sea ice extent in the Arctic Basin was the lowest recorded over the 1980-to-2024 time series. Other Arctic marine bioregions ranged from 3rd lowest to 10th lowest. The 2024 monthly average maximum sea ice extent was the 5th lowest on record over the same period in the Scotian Shelf, 7th lowest for the estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence and 10th lowest for the Newfoundland-Labrador Shelves.
Changing sea ice exacerbates climate change, as its disappearance accelerates ocean warming when more sunlight reaches and is absorbed into the ocean.
Map 1
Decadal average minimum or maximum sea ice extent, from the 1980s to the 2010s
Find the new natural capital indicator in the Quality of Life Hub!
Statistics Canada’s Quality of Life Framework now includes measurement of natural capital. Natural capital assets produce goods and services important for economic production and human well-being. The Quality of Life framework brings together data on 85 indicators focused on prosperity, health, society, the environment and good governance to measure the quality of life of Canadians.
Note to readers
A new sea ice extent table (table 38-10-0192-01) is now available as part of the Ocean and coastal ecosystem accounts. This table provides long-term monthly average sea ice extent data from October 1979 to August 2025, aggregated by Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s marine bioregions.
Minimum sea ice extent occurs in late summer and maximum extents occur in late winter. Minimum and maximum extents are calculated using monthly estimates of mean extent. Ecosystems and environmental processes are assessed over long periods because measures vary from year to year and longer periods are needed to reveal trends.
Sea ice data are sourced from the Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Canadian Ice Service archive and the University of Colorado Boulder’s National Snow and Ice Data Center sea ice index.
Note: Environment and Climate Change Canada produces the Canadian Environmental Sustainability Indicator “Sea ice in Canada,” providing official values for summer sea ice area, which reflects the area of water surface covered with ice. Statistics Canada’s new Sea ice extent account table provides year-round monthly data of the areas where sea ice concentration is 15% or greater.
Statistics Canada’s Census of Environment program reports on ecosystems in Canada, providing information to help Canadians make evidence-based decisions to protect and enhance the environment. The program follows the internationally accepted environmental–economic standard for producing information on ecosystems’ extent, their condition and the services they provide.
For more information, see Canadian System of Environmental-Economic Accounting – Ecosystem Accounts (5331).
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).
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