The Arctic strategy is a turning point, if Canada follows through

The emphasis on infrastructure is central to that shift. Ports, airstrips, and telecommunications are economic assets—and the backbone of our security and legal credibility in the region.

A Canadian Coast Guard ship makes an approach to the U.S. Coast Guard in the Arctic Ocean. At the centre of this evolving strategic landscape in the Arctic lies a longstanding legal fault line, the status of the Northwest Passage, writes Aaron Shull.Photograph courtesy of Patrick Kelley, U.S. Coast Guard

Opinion

BY AARON SHULL

April 6, 2026

For years, successive Canadian governments have talked about the Arctic as central to the national identity. However, what had been missing was a strategy that actually treated the Arctic as central to the national future.

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