Backgrounder – Deliverables of Canada’s Arctic Foreign Policy

On December 6, 2024, the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, announced the launch of Canada’s Arctic Foreign Policy (AFP).

Funding for the Arctic Foreign Policy is $34.7 million over 5 years, and $7 million ongoing. This is in addition to $8 million per year in ongoing funding for the Global Arctic Leadership Initiative under the Arctic and Northern Policy Framework. 

The Arctic Foreign Policy will allow Global Affairs Canada to:

• Appoint an Arctic Ambassador, with an office in Canada’s North: The Arctic ambassador will work with Arctic allies and domestic partners including Indigenous Peoples and territorial and provincial governments to make linkages between Canada’s domestic and foreign policy agenda, advance Canada’s polar interests in multilateral forums, and raise awareness internationally of Indigenous rights in the Arctic context. The Arctic ambassador will also work with Canada’s Chief Science Advisor on issues related to Arctic science and research.
• Open new consulates in Anchorage, Alaska, and Nuuk, Greenland: The opening of these consulates will contribute to deepening Canada’s diplomatic engagement with its neighbours, the United States, including Alaska, and the Kingdom of Denmark, including Greenland. This will make the Canadian and North American Arctic more secure and create new opportunities for economic cooperation, scientific collaboration and cultural exchange.
• Initiate an Arctic security dialogue with like-minded Arctic states: Discussions among foreign ministers could focus on sharing information and analyses of issues relating to international Arctic relations and security, discussing national approaches to cross-cutting security challenges, advancing opportunities for collaboration, and increasing collective resilience.
• Expand domestic information sharing on emerging international Arctic security trends: This will help ensure that territorial and provincial governments and Indigenous leaders are equipped to make informed decisions about the security of their communities.
• Support domestic partners in taking into account a national security lens to foreign research in Canada’s Arctic including by holding an annual roundtable meeting.
• Work toward resolution of Arctic boundaries: Global Affairs Canada will deliver on Canada’s commitments made under the Ilulissat Declaration for the orderly settlement of overlapping maritime claims and delineation of the outer limits of the extended continental shelf, by launching negotiations with the United States to resolve the unsettled Beaufort Sea boundary and continental shelf overlaps in the Arctic Ocean, and by finalizing the implementation of the boundary agreement between Canada and the Kingdom of Denmark regarding Tartupaluk (Hans Island).
• Secure additional funding for the Global Arctic Leadership Initiative: By increasing funding for the Global Arctic Leadership Initiative, Canada will strengthen its global leadership in the Arctic and continue to support initiatives led by civil society and Indigenous partners. For example, it will allow for more Canadian engagement and leadership in Arctic Council work that integrates environmental protection and sustainable socio-economic development crucial to Northerners livelihoods and ways of life. It will also increase the representation of Arctic and northern Indigenous Peoples at relevant international forums.
• Enhance Canada’s diplomatic presence in the Nordic region: A new position will be created in one of Canada’s Nordic embassies with regional responsibility for increasing coordination and information sharing, including on security issues, with Nordic partners.
• Enhance domestic engagement on Canada’s Arctic foreign policy: Global Affairs Canada will continue pursuing early, meaningful and sustained engagement with territorial and provincial governments, Arctic and northern Indigenous governments and organizations and northerners more generally. We will also explore distinctions-based engagements with First Nations, Inuit, Métis, Modern Treaty and Self-Governing Partners.
• Establish an Arctic and northern Indigenous youth internship program: To support its recruitment efforts and increase Indigenous perspectives in the department, Global Affairs Canada will establish a paid Arctic and northern Indigenous youth internship program that will consider the need of Arctic and northern Indigenous youths to remain close to their families and communities and ensure that appropriate support is in place.
• Establish principles for cooperation with non-Arctic states and actors: Given the prospect of growing competition in the Arctic, Canada will be strategic in prioritizing pragmatic cooperation with non-Arctic states and actors that align with Canadian values, interests and objectives.