Federal Government stays mum on highest tides debate between Tasiujaq and Bay of Fundy

CBC English
11 followers
Oct 15, 2026
For the second year in a row,
Makovic's data shows that Tasiouak and not the Bay of Fundy
has the greatest tidal range in Canada,
but that's not officially confirmed by the Canadian
Hydrographic Service, CHS.
For decades, the Bay of Fundy between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick
has been sold to tourists
and others as having the greatest tidal range in the world. Ademie
Delel Alaku, Makovic's Vice President of Environment,
Wildlife and Research, wants the CHS
to set the record straight.
They're kind of dismissing our data
and not asserting our claim that it's the highest.
The highest reading from Makovic's two gauges this year
showed a range of almost 17 metres.
The CHS measured Nova Scotia's burnt coat head
at almost 16 metres,
while Tasiouak's leaf basin measured just above that.
Delel Alaku insists it's not a competition,
it's just about getting the facts right.
We're not doing this to prove anyone wrong.
We're just trying to ensure that we're taking this seriously
and the local people of Tasiouak have known for a long time
that they do have the highest tide in the world.
So why not declare who has the record?
To truly compare between the Bay of Fundy and Tasiouak,
a Fisheries and Oceans Canada spokesperson says
both locations will need to be measured over the same time frame
and adds the CHS does not establish or verify records.
Dave DeWolf has worked with Tides for over 50 years
and is helping Makovic with its study.
The highest tide I've ever measured is the one on Tasiouak this year.
He says it's not that hard to compare the two locations.
Talk about the difficulties of the analysis of it,
and I agree it can be difficult, but they're non-committal.
Basically, they say it's not their job.
Moving forward, Delel Alaku says they'll look for more funding
to do even more data collection in Nunavik and might look
to other entities like Guinness to set the record straight.
Bianca McEwen, CBC News, Iqaluit.
