Canada says it will not ease Russia sanctions on Russian oil in the way the US has

17 March 2026

Canada’s Prime Minister, Mark Carney, has said Canada will maintain sanctions on Russia and on Russian oil after the US issued a temporary licence to authorise the delivery and sale of Russian-origin oil.

The US licence permits certain transactions related to the sale, delivery, or offloading of Russian-origin crude oil or petroleum products loaded on any vessel, including vessels blocked under US sanctions on or before 12 March 2026. The licence expires on 11 April 2026.

Canada’s Russia sanctions regime is established under the Special Economic Measures (Russia) Regulations. Canadian sanctions have included targeting vessels said to be part of Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’, vessels used to circumvent sanctions on transporting Russian oil. See our Canada pages for information on Canada’s sanctions legislation.