iPolitics – The Trudeau government has issued a new order expanding a moratorium on oil and gas work in offshore areas in Canada’s arctic. An order-in-council, issued on July 28 by cabinet, prohibits all offshore oil and gas activities in the area, building off a moratorium on issuing new oil and gas licenses announced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2016, alongside then-U.S. president Barack Obama. The new order-in-council is to remain in effect until Dec. 31, 2021.

It also freezes the conditions of all existing licences permitting oil and gas work in the area, meaning the licences won’t elapse while the moratorium is in place.