The Shadow Fleet and the Nuclear Shield

Ottawa moves to sink Russia’s ghost ships and harden Canadian nuclear sites against insider sabotage.

The ink on the pages of the Canada Gazette is usually dry. It is a ledger of bureaucracy where the machinery of the state grinds in slow, predictable rotations. But the issue published on November 19, 2025, reads less like an administrative record and more like a war room briefing.

There is a distinct shift in tone within these thousands of pages. The government is no longer tweaking the margins of policy. It is fortifying the walls.

A sweep of new orders reveals a nation bracing for hybrid warfare. We see a massive expansion of sanctions targeting a clandestine Russian armada. We see a complete overhaul of security protocols at Canadian nuclear power plants designed to stop saboteurs and cyber-terrorists. We see a frantic attempt to repair Canada’s reputation in global aviation safety.

The world has become a more dangerous place. Ottawa is finally writing the rules to match it.

The Ghost Armada

The ocean is vast and it is easy to hide. For the last three years, the Russian Federation has relied on this simple geographical fact to finance its war in Ukraine. They utilize what intelligence agencies call the “shadow fleet.”

These are vessels that operate in the grey zones of maritime law. They turn off their Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) to vanish from tracking screens. They engage in dangerous ship-to-ship transfers of oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the middle of the ocean to obscure the origin of the cargo. They are aging, poorly maintained, and often uninsured. They are the lifeline of the Kremlin’s war economy.

On November 6, 2025, the Governor General signed an order that drags this fleet into the light.

The Special Economic Measures (Russia) Regulations have been amended to list 100 specific vessels. This is not a broad, vague prohibition. It is a hit list.

The objective is precise. The government intends to constrain Russia’s ability to fund its military by targeting its energy revenues and maritime logistics. The regulation explicitly targets vessels involved in the transport of oil, LNG, and arms.

By listing these ships by their International Maritime Organization (IMO) numbers, Canada is effectively banning them from docking in or passing through Canadian waters. More importantly, it prohibits any Canadian entity from providing services to them. No insurance. No technical support. No supplies.

This regulatory update also targets the human architecture behind the fleet. Thirteen individuals and eleven entities have been added to the sanctions list. These are not just soldiers. They include senior executives of Russian LNG firms and cyber infrastructure enablers using crypto channels to move money. They are the facilitators who keep the Russian military-industrial complex solvent.

The language in the Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement is stark. It notes that despite extensive sanctions, Russia has adapted. It leverages cyber actors and financial intermediaries to sustain its aggression. The shadow fleet is the physical manifestation of that adaptation. Canada is now moving to sink it.

The Enemy Within

While the Foreign Affairs Minister looks to the oceans, the Minister of Natural Resources has turned his gaze inward to the concrete fortresses of Canada’s energy grid.

The Nuclear Security Regulations have been repealed and replaced in their entirety. This is a massive regulatory overhaul that acknowledges a terrifying reality. The threat to Canada’s nuclear facilities is no longer just a physical assault from the outside. It is digital. It is internal.

The new regulations, registered as SOR/2025-219, introduce the concept of the “Design Basis Threat.” This is a classified assessment of the capabilities of potential adversaries. The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) identifies the threat, and the operators of high-security sites must design their defenses to defeat it.

But the nature of that threat has evolved.

The new rules mandate strict cyber security measures. For the first time, nuclear operators must protect computer systems and electronic components against cyber attacks identified in their threat and risk assessments. This is a recognition that a keyboard can be as dangerous as a bomb when it comes to critical infrastructure.

Perhaps the most chilling addition is the focus on the “insider threat.”

The regulations now require a “two-person rule” in the Central Alarm Station of high-security sites. No single operator can be left alone in the room that monitors the security systems. This measure is designed to prevent a solitary actor from disabling alarms or tampering with surveillance feeds to facilitate an attack.

The regulations also introduce the concept of “radiological consequences” to identify vital areas. Any area within a facility where sabotage could lead to a radiation dose exceeding a specific threshold is now designated a “vital area.” Access to these zones is tightly controlled.

The screening process for workers is being tightened. The regulations incorporate the Treasury Board’s Directive on Security Screening. This includes credit checks for individuals seeking enhanced security clearance. The logic is cold but practical. Financial distress can make an employee vulnerable to coercion or bribery.

This is a shift from prescriptive checkboxes to outcome-based security. The government is telling nuclear operators that they must be able to detect, delay, and respond to an attack. How they achieve that is up to them, but the outcome must be guaranteed. The stakes are nothing less than the prevention of radiological sabotage.

The Aviation Audit Panic

While the nuclear sector hardens its defenses, the aviation sector is scrambling to fix a cracked foundation.

In 2023, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) audited Transport Canada. The results were alarming. Canada’s score for the effective implementation of safety oversight dropped from 95.3% in 2005 to 64.3%. We fell from the top tier of global aviation safety to a position that demanded immediate corrective action.

The Regulations Amending the Canadian Aviation Regulations (ICAO-related Amendments) are the government’s answer to that failing grade.

The amendments address a laundry list of safety gaps that had been allowed to fester. One of the most critical involves the oversight of foreign medical examiners. Previously, foreign doctors could submit medical reports for Canadian pilots without Canadian credentialing. That loophole is now closed. Only Civil Aviation Medical Examiners designated by Transport Canada can submit these reports.

The regulations also tackle the issue of communication in the cockpit. Misunderstandings between pilots and air traffic control are a leading cause of safety incidents. The new rules mandate the “read back” of safety-critical information. When a controller gives an instruction regarding a runway or an altimeter setting, the pilot must repeat it back. It seems like a basic protocol, but it was not explicitly required by regulation until now.

There is also a realignment on how Canada classifies “interference with a crew member.” Previously, displaying a weapon was classified as a Level 4 incident, the highest level. International standards classify this as Level 3. This misalignment caused confusion with partners like NORAD. If a Canadian pilot reported a Level 4 incident because a passenger waved a pen threateningly, it could trigger a massive military response from the United States, expecting a hijacking. The regulations now align Canada’s definitions with the rest of the world to prevent the unnecessary scrambling of fighter jets.

This regulatory package is an attempt to stop the bleeding. A score of 64.3% is a vulnerability Canada cannot afford, especially when Canadian businesses rely on the reputation of our aviation sector to operate globally.

Tearing Down the Walls

While the government builds walls against external threats, it is trying to tear them down within its own borders.

The Free Trade and Labour Mobility in Canada Regulations have been registered to support the One Canadian Economy Act. This legislation is an attempt to solve a problem that has plagued the federation since its inception: it is often harder to trade between Canadian provinces than it is to trade with foreign countries.

The new regulations clarify the rules of engagement. They establish that if a good or service meets the requirements of one province, it should be recognized as meeting the comparable federal requirements for interprovincial trade.

It sounds dry, but the economic implications are enormous. Economists estimate that removing internal trade barriers could add up to $200 billion to the Canadian economy.

The regulations provide specific exceptions to protect supply management in dairy, poultry, and eggs. They also carve out exceptions for food safety, ensuring that the Safe Food for Canadians Act remains the supreme standard.

For workers, this is a game-changer. The regulations facilitate the recognition of credentials. A land surveyor or a locomotive engineer licensed in one province will now have a streamlined path to federal authorization. It removes the absurdity of a qualified professional being unable to work across a provincial border without jumping through redundant bureaucratic hoops.

This is an economic defense strategy. By unifying the internal market, Ottawa hopes to increase national productivity and resilience in the face of global economic uncertainty.

The Billion Dollar Kickoff

Amidst the security crackdowns and economic restructuring, there is a single order that speaks to the circus that accompanies the bread.

The FIFA Men’s World Cup 2026 Remission Order grants a massive tax break to the organizers of the upcoming tournament.

The order remits customs duties, excise taxes, and the GST/HST on goods imported for the World Cup. This covers everything from the personal effects of athletes to the broadcasting equipment used to beam the matches to billions of viewers.

It is a standard requirement for hosting such a mega-event. FIFA demands a tax-free environment, and host nations comply. The government justifies the lost revenue by pointing to the expected economic impact. Over one million international visitors are expected. The projected contribution to the GDP is up to $2 billion.

However, it serves as a stark contrast to the other regulations in this issue. While nuclear workers face credit checks and pilots face stricter protocols, the machinery of international sport is granted a smooth, tax-free passage through the border.

The Pharmaceutical Ban

Finally, the government has moved to ban a drug that has slipped through the cracks for too long.

The Order Amending Schedule IV to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act adds Carisoprodol to the list of controlled substances.

Carisoprodol is a muscle relaxant. It is also a sedative that produces effects similar to benzodiazepines. It has no authorized medical use in Canada, yet it has been showing up in illicit markets globally. The World Health Organization flagged it for diversion and misuse.

By moving it to Schedule IV, the government is criminalizing its unauthorized import, export, and trafficking. It is a preemptive strike. Unlike the fentanyl crisis, where regulation chased a runaway epidemic, Ottawa is attempting to close the door on Carisoprodol before it can gain a foothold in the Canadian street drug supply.

Closing

The Canada Gazette is often viewed as a graveyard of legal text. But Vol. 159, No. 24 is a blueprint for a fortress.

On one front, the government is engaging in economic warfare against Russia, hunting down the ships and money men that fuel the invasion of Ukraine. On another, it is hardening the physical and digital security of the nuclear plants that power our cities. It is scrambling to fix a broken aviation safety regime to avoid international isolation. And internally, it is trying to weld the fractured provincial economies into a single, resilient unit.

These regulations are not just rules. They are a reaction to a world that has become hostile, unpredictable, and dangerous. The message from Ottawa is clear: the walls are going up.

Source Documents

Canada Gazette, Part II, 159(24).