All foreign ships that enter Canada's Arctic waters should report to Canadian authorities, according to a new Senate committee report.

The report by the Senate's standing committee on fisheries and oceans, released Monday, concludes that foreign vessels in Canadian Arctic waters — regardless of their size — should be required to register with the Canadian Coast Guard's Arctic marine traffic system, known as NORDREG.

Currently, it is only voluntary for cruise ships, freight ships and other marine vessels travelling in Canada's Arctic waterways to register with NORDREG as long as they do not land.

"Full control over Arctic waters is a matter of sovereignty," Newfoundland and Labrador Sen. William Rompkey, who chairs the Senate committee, said in a release Monday.

"It is also a matter of protecting the exceptionally fragile coastal and marine environment for northern residents — primarily the Inuit who have used those lands and waters for countless generations."

Cabinet committee urged

The report also calls on the federal government to create an Arctic affairs cabinet committee to develop Arctic-related policies with the three territorial governments.

The cabinet committee, the report says, should be chaired by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and consist of eight ministers whose portfolios relate to the North, including Indian and Northern Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl, Environment Minister Jim Prentice and Defence Minister Peter MacKay.

As well, the Senate committee recommends that the federal government actively work with the U.S. government to resolve their dispute over who owns the Northwest Passage.

Canada has long insisted that the Arctic passage is a Canadian waterway, while the United States has maintained that it's an international waterway.

The committee's report is based on information the senators gathered in Ottawa and while touring the Western Arctic.