The Binational Commissions
of the Great Lakes Region

Tri-Commission Collaboration

Since 2014, staff from the three commissions have met regularly to identify, discuss, coordinate and take action on issues of mutual interest, to the extent possible. 

On March 6, 2024, the Great Lakes Commission, Great Lakes Fishery Commission, and International Joint Commission-Great Lakes Regional Office formally signed the first-ever memorandum of understanding between them. The agreement sets a clear path for advancing the commissions’ existing shared goals and objectives, such as developing a Great Lakes science plan, coordinating science vessel activities, and promoting annual Great Lakes Day events.

Each commission plays a different but complementary role in Great Lakes management and represent important stakeholders in advancing sound policies and projects. The IJC helps Canada and the United States prevent and resolve issues over the use of the waters they share, including through the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement; the GLC represents the interests of the Great Lakes provinces and states on priority issues; and the GLFC ensures fishery management is based on science and highly coordinated among the state, provincial, and U.S. tribal jurisdictions in the basin.

Great Lakes Commission

The Great Lakes Commission is an interstate compact agency founded in state and federal law and comprised of governors’ appointees, state agency officials and legislators from each of the Great Lakes states. Although legally a United States institution, the provinces of Ontario and Québec have participated since the organizations’ inception; a role which became more formal through a Declaration of Partnership, signed in 1999.

The Great Lakes Commission was established by the Great Lakes Basin Compact in 1955 “to promote the orderly, integrated and comprehensive development, use, and conservation of the water resources of the Great Lakes Basin.” Passage of P.L. 90-419 by the United States Congress in 1968 provided consent of the Great Lakes Basin Compact. Between 1955 and 1963 each of the eight Great Lakes states passed its own enabling legislation that determines its delegation makeup and participation in the Great Lakes Commission under the terms of the Great Lakes Basin Compact.

The Great Lakes Commission’s authority under the Compact includes providing advice and recommendations to governments at all levels on development, use, management and protection of the lakes. Services focus on communication and education, information integration and reporting, facilitation and consensus building, and policy coordination and advocacy.

Great Lakes Fishery Commission

The Great Lakes Fishery Commission (GLFC) was established by the 1955 Convention on Great Lakes Fisheries: 1) to formulate a coordinated fishery research program between the U.S. and Canada; 2) to make recommendations to governments; 3) to formulate and implement a program to control the invasive, noxious sea lamprey in the Great Lakes; and 4) to establish “working arrangements” among the fishery management agencies, including provincial, state, tribal, and federal authorities.

The GLFC is made up of eight Commissioners (four appointed from each of the United States and Canada; the US also appoints an alternate commissioner). GLFC work is supported by an institutional structure that includes the Board of Technical Experts and the Sea Lamprey Research Board to advise on science; the Sea Lamprey Control Board, and committees of citizen advisors. To maintain working arrangements, the GLFC facilitates the implementation of “A Joint Strategic Plan for Management of Great Lakes Fisheries,” a multi-jurisdictional agreement among the basin’s fishery management agencies. Through the Joint Strategic Plan, the members work together to develop and implement shared fishery objectives and to harmonize their policies. The process occurs through several Joint Strategic Plan committees including a “lake committee” for each lake, technical committees, a basinwide Council of Lake Committees, the Law Enforcement Committee, and the Great Lakes Fish Health Committee.

International Joint Commission

The International Joint Commission (IJC) helps Canada and the United States prevent and resolve issues over shared waters on 5,525 miles (8,900 kilometers) of boundary, including the Great Lakes. The IJC was created through the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty between Canada and the United States. The IJC is an independent international organization that provides objective,  science-based advice to the two governments.

Each country appoints three Commissioners to the IJC, who are supported by professional staff in offices in Washington, DC, Ottawa, Ontario and a Great Lakes Regional Office in Windsor, Ontario.

The IJC has authority to approve and manage structures that affect levels and flows in the boundary waters. The IJC also studies and recommends solutions to transboundary water issues when asked by the governments of Canada and the United States.

The IJC has specific responsibilities under the Canada-US Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (originally signed in 1972 and most recently updated in 2012). These responsibilities include providing advice, assessing progress, identifying emerging issues, and engaging the public. The IJC’s Great Lakes Water Quality Board, Great Lakes Science Advisory Board, and Health Professionals Advisory Board help the IJC fulfill its responsibilities under the Agreement and the Boundary Waters Treaty.