Canada will appoint a new Arctic ambassador and set up two new diplomatic missions in Alaska and Greenland to boost its presence in the North as its seeks to increase its security posture against foreign threats and climate change, the government announced Friday.
The new Arctic foreign policy also sets out plans for increased engagement with the United States and Nordic nations like Sweden and Finland, strengthening research security, and improved information sharing with local and Indigenous governments on developing security threats, including foreign interference.
The policy is part of the government’s renewed focus on Arctic security, as actors like Russia and China further encroach on Canada’s sovereignty, and the North is increasingly identified as a potential security vulnerability.
A senior government official told reporters Thursday that the policy seeks to ensure Canada’s foreign policy complements its defence strategies in the Arctic.
“The two need to work hand-in-hand,” the official said.
The federal government is committing $34.7 million up front and $7 million ongoing over a total five years to the policy.
It includes no new defence spending in the Arctic, but points to recent Arctic security investments outlined in the defence policy update and commitments to NORAD modernization, which amount to tens of billions of dollars over the next decade.
Why the Arctic is an increasing concern
Canada’s North has long been coveted by foreign nations for its abundant resources and potential new commercial shipping routes.
The gradual shrinking of the ice shelf fueled by climate change in recent years, however, has made it easier for hostile actors like Russia and China to encroach on Canada’s Arctic sovereignty — presenting a growing security threat.
Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine “fundamentally changed the geopolitical landscape” with “spillover effects” in the Arctic, the new policy says. Moscow’s growing collaboration with China, which officials say has ambitions to become a “polar great power,” has led to an increased presence in Arctic waters and airspace by both countries.
“The North American Arctic is no longer free from tension,” the policy states.
“Canada must urgently strengthen our presence in the Arctic and northern regions as our adversaries aspire to a greater role in the region’s affairs.”
Get breaking National news
For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.
Canada’s chief of the defence staff, Gen. Jennie Carignan, told Global News last month that Arctic security is among her top priorities. She said Moscow and Beijing were conducting joint patrols with research vessels that were also “gathering intelligence.”
Carignan said more investments and faster procurement of new technology was needed to bolster security in the North.
The Pentagon has identified similar challenges and security needs in what it calls the “strategic Arctic region,” particularly China’s increased presence. Its own Arctic strategy includes enhanced collaboration with allies and increased military exercises to help deter Beijing and Moscow.
A threat assessment released last week by the Conference of Defence Associations Institute listed climate change; state-based threats from Russia, China and others; and “an eroding international order based on the rule of law” as the top threats facing Canada and North America in the Arctic.
The report called for a whole-of-government approach to those threats, noting the military could not counter them alone.
The Arctic foreign policy identifies those same threats, along with a “general increase in Arctic maritime activity,” disinformation and influence campaigns by foreign adversaries, malicious cyber activity, and foreign interference activities targeting Canadians, “including northerners.”
The government consulted with Indigenous peoples in the North, including Inuit leaders, as well as territorial and provincial governments to develop the Arctic foreign policy.
What’s included in the policy
Among the top priorities in the policy is to initiate an “Arctic security dialogue” with like-minded Arctic states, including Nordic nations and the U.S.
The new Arctic ambassador will lead diplomatic efforts on behalf of Canada’s Arctic and northern interests, including security priorities and local needs.
The government will also create a new position in one of Canada’s Nordic consular missions “with responsibility for increasing coordination and information sharing, including on security issues, with Nordic partners,” the policy says.
Government officials said Global Affairs Canada, though the ambassador’s office in the North, will help spur foreign investment to address infrastructure gaps in northern communities.
The role of Arctic ambassador, who will be appointed in the coming weeks, revives a post that was once held by Gov.-Gen. Mary Simon, who served as Canada’s ambassador for circumpolar affairs for 10 years until 2004, before the position was abolished in 2006.
“Whoever is appointed to the position will have big shoes to fill,” a government official said.
Global Affairs Canada will also launch an internship program to boost Indigenous and Arctic perspectives in the department.
Canada will establish two new consulates in Anchorage, Alaska, and Nuuk, Greenland, to help advance relations and collaboration on northern issues with the U.S. and Nordic countries, respectively, the policy says.
The policy adds Arctic issues will play a bigger role in Canada’s engagements with allies around the world, including the United Kingdom, the European Union, and Indo-Pacific partners like Japan and South Korea.
It also lays out plans for Canada to resolve boundary disputes with Denmark over the island of Tartupaluk, and with the U.S. in the Beaufort Sea.
The policy’s commitment to regularly brief territorial, provincial and Indigenous governments on emerging security threats in the North are in line with new legislation passed in June that better facilitates information sharing with non-federal partners on foreign interference issues.
The policy also commits to viewing critical Arctic research “through a national security lens,” with strengthened security over Canadian facilities while guarding against foreign research that is also has military or “dual use” applications.
Canada will increase its contributions to the Arctic Council, a key international diplomatic forum on northern affairs, but the policy doesn’t say by how much.
Policy adds to defence commitments
The federal government has been pushed by the United States to step up its posture and investments in the North as part of its defence commitments to both NATO and NORAD.
The updated defence policy includes billions of dollars in new Arctic security investments, on top of nearly $40 billion in previously-announced spending for NORAD modernization.
Ottawa’s pledge to meet NATO’s defence spending target of two per cent of GDP by 2032 — a timeline that’s been criticized by allies as too long and the parliamentary budget officer as unrealistic — is based in part on purchasing a new fleet of submarines to patrol the North.
Canada signed a trilateral pact with the U.S. and Finland in July to spur the production of new Arctic and polar icebreakers, and signed a memorandum of understanding last month to enhance the partnership.
The Canadian Forces uses the Canadian Rangers, a reserve force, to patrol remote, coastal and northern regions, with patrols of those reservists based in dozens of communities across the north and the Arctic.