diff --git a/cmd/operator.go b/cmd/operator.go
index e805894eb..97c0fc5ea 100644
--- a/cmd/operator.go
+++ b/cmd/operator.go
@@ -110,6 +110,7 @@ func run(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
 	includeNamespaces := []string{}
 	if operatorNamespace != "" {
 		includeNamespaces = strings.Split(operatorNamespace, ",")
+		canaryJobs.CanaryNamespaces = includeNamespaces
 	}
 	runner.RunnerLabels = labels.LoadFromFile("/etc/podinfo/labels")
 
diff --git a/pkg/db/canary.go b/pkg/db/canary.go
index b0014b253..2f6cdd0cf 100644
--- a/pkg/db/canary.go
+++ b/pkg/db/canary.go
@@ -18,11 +18,12 @@ import (
 	"github.com/flanksource/duty/models"
 	dutyTypes "github.com/flanksource/duty/types"
 	"github.com/google/uuid"
+	"github.com/jackc/pgx/v5"
 	"gorm.io/gorm"
 	"gorm.io/gorm/clause"
 )
 
-func GetAllCanariesForSync() ([]pkg.Canary, error) {
+func GetAllCanariesForSync(namespaces ...string) ([]pkg.Canary, error) {
 	query := `
         SELECT json_agg(
             jsonb_set_lax(to_jsonb(canaries),'{checks}', (
@@ -41,7 +42,14 @@ func GetAllCanariesForSync() ([]pkg.Canary, error) {
             agent_id = '00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000'
     `
 
-	rows, err := Pool.Query(context.Background(), query)
+	args := make(pgx.NamedArgs)
+
+	if namespaces != nil {
+		query += " AND namespace = ANY(@namespaces)"
+		args["namespaces"] = namespaces
+	}
+
+	rows, err := Pool.Query(context.Background(), query, args)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -56,6 +64,7 @@ func GetAllCanariesForSync() ([]pkg.Canary, error) {
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to unmarshal canaries:%w for %s", err, rows.RawValues()[0])
 		}
 	}
+
 	return _canaries, nil
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/jobs/canary/canary_jobs.go b/pkg/jobs/canary/canary_jobs.go
index a7555b182..38bb99c49 100644
--- a/pkg/jobs/canary/canary_jobs.go
+++ b/pkg/jobs/canary/canary_jobs.go
@@ -30,6 +30,10 @@ var DataFile string
 var Executor bool
 var LogPass, LogFail bool
 
+// CanaryNamespaces is a list of namespaces whose canary specs should be synced.
+// If empty, all namespaces will be synced
+var CanaryNamespaces []string
+
 var Kommons *kommons.Client
 var Kubernetes kubernetes.Interface
 var FuncScheduler = cron.New()
@@ -346,7 +350,7 @@ func SyncCanaryJob(dbCanary pkg.Canary) error {
 func SyncCanaryJobs() {
 	logger.Debugf("Syncing canary jobs")
 
-	canaries, err := db.GetAllCanariesForSync()
+	canaries, err := db.GetAllCanariesForSync(CanaryNamespaces...)
 	if err != nil {
 		logger.Errorf("Failed to get canaries: %v", err)