Canada's Arctic: A Concern for National Security

• Main Author: Patel, Shridhar
• Other Authors: Bratt, Duane
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: Faculty of Graduate Studies 2023
• Subjects: Arctic; Climate change
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/1880/117715; https://doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/42558

With a changing security environment as well as the threat of climate change, Canada needs to do more to assert its sovereignty over its Arctic region to avoid threats to territorial sovereignty. This paper provides legal, economic, international cooperation, and military recommendations that, in conjunction with Canada's Northern Policy Framework, aim to reassert Canadian sovereignty over northern territories well into the future. Primarily, these recommendations serve to deter our allies, such as the United States, and adversaries, like Russia and China, from trying to infringe upon the Canadian Arctic in both explicit and implicit ways. While Canada may not be able to fully deter a foreign nation from imposing its will on the region if it chooses to move forward with no regard for any consequences, it can implement a series of policies that make deterrence effective against all but the most damaging outcomes.