OTTAWA - Canada is asking the United Nations for a bigger territorial slice of the Atlantic and Arctic oceans - and the potential bonanza of resources the deep waters hold.

The federal government submitted two claims with the United Nation Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf - a final application for the Atlantic that adds 1.2 million square kilometres to the east coast offshore boundaries and an early application for the Arctic.

"We are securing our sovereignty, we are expanding our scope, our economic and scientific opportunities, we are defining Canada's last frontiers," Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq said Monday.

Scientist have been back to map more of the Arctic seafloor after Prime Minister Stephen Harper insisted the application include the North Pole - a region that no nation owns but that Russia and Denmark also want to call their own.

Foreign Affairs Minster John Baird said the government ran out of time to fully map the Arctic before the UN deadline.

"What we want to do is claim the biggest geographic area possible for Canada," he said. "What Canadians expect us to do is take the time to get it right."

They'll specifically look at the 1,700-kilometre long underwater Lomonosov Ridge, which runs from Ellesmere Island towards Siberia.

Officials wouldn't speculate on the final Arctic submission timeline or how much territory Canada may claim, although past federal statements suggest it could be about 1.75 million square kilometres - territory the size of Alaska.

NPD foreign affairs critic Paul Dewar said Canada's claim should have been ready.

"The question is, for me, is why didn't you get it right the first time?" he said.

Our submissions aim to secure international recognition of our sovereign rights to resources on and under the continental shelf that extends past 200 nautical miles (370 km) from the coast.

The full amount of resource wealth in the Arctic is a mystery - although early estimates suggest it could contain 22% of the world's oil and gas reserves.

Climate change is opening the Arctic up to oil, mineral and gas exploration, as well as shipping and fishing.

The UN commission is expected to take up to 20 years to resolve the competing global continental shelf claims. Overlapping claims will be worked out diplomatically.

Canada's Atlantic submission is expected to overlap with Denmark, the U.S. and France, which owns the St. Pierre and Miquelon islands off the east coast.

Canada's Arctic claim is expected to step on Danish, American and Russian toes.