The North Shore of Lake Superior Remedial Action Plan (RAP) is an active program set up by Environment Canada, the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources.  This program is focused on addressing water quality issues along the Canadian North Shore of Lake Superior. The program is directed by a team of local, provincial, and federal government officials, and is advised by a series of Public Advisory Committees (PACs); including representatives from community-based organizations, industry, and the general public.

The North Shore of Lake Superior RAP program has been in effect since 1987, and focuses on four separate Areas of Concern (AOC); including Thunder Bay, Nipigon Bay, Jackfish Bay and Peninsula Harbor.

Areas of Concern are locations where environmental quality is significantly degraded, resulting in the impairment of beneficial uses to both humans and wildlife. The Great Lakes Areas of Concern are recognized by the International Joint Commission (IJC) and designated under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA).  The GLWQA is a joint agreement between Canada and the United States which commits the two countries to develop and implement a plan to restore and maintain the many desirable uses of the Great Lakes Basin.

Each AOC has to ultimately under go three stages of restoration and protection before it is no longer considered as an Area of Concern.

Stage 1:
Identifies an area as a concern and investigates the severity and underlying causes of environmental degradation. Within each AOC, studies are completed to identify cause for the environmental degradation; investigating water and sediment quality, fish and animal habitat and growth, plant quality, and other ecosystem components.

Stage 2:
Identifies the goals for the AOC and recommends actions to be taken to remediate the site. The ultimate goal of the RAP is restoration and protection of the ecosystem's health.

Stage 3:
Is the implementation of the recommended actions supplied by stage 2; followed by measuring the progress of restoration and protection efforts in the AOC to ensure that the goals have been met.

After the successful completion of stages 1, 2 and 3, the area is then delisted; identifying that the goals set out by the RAP have been achieved and the area is no longer a concern. The decision to delist an AOC is made by all the contributing parties, including the federal, provincial and local RAP participants, with additional advice from the International Joint Commission.