Defining Canada's Extended Continental Shelf (Science at Work)

Canada is party to an international agreement called the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea that recognizes that coastal states can obtain rights and jurisdiction over their continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles. Natural Resources Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada and Global Affairs Canada, with the help of other federal departments and agencies, are working on Canada’s submission to the United Nations, as part of a review process to clearly define our country’s offshore boundaries.

[@u235u235u235]

according to the UN, Canada can only claim 12 miles from the shore as their territory. The 200 miles from shore thing is the exclusive economic zone, that's not the same thing as territory owned.

[@AvelineVallen]

There is no such thing as an “extended continental shelf” in the international law. The continental shelf either exists or not. The term “extended” is used only in the US domestic law.