Official opening of the Canadian High Arctic Research Station (CHARS) campus

The opening of the Canadian High Arctic Research Station (CHARS) campus in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, was held on August 21, 2019.

The official opening ceremony was a celebration of the completion of the CHARS campus project. Various community activities for all ages were also held on Thursday, August 22.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019
Time	Activity
3:00 p.m.	Official opening ceremonies
4:00 p.m.	Entertainment
4:35 p.m.	Light refreshments
4:35 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.	CHARS campus tours and self-guided tours

Thursday, August 22, 2019
Time	Activity
10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.	CHARS campus tours Self-guided tours POLAR activities for all ages (see list below)

The official opening ceremonies included the following activities and exhibits:

Activity	Description
Pan-Northern exhibit	Join us in the Knowledge Sharing Centre to view images from popular online archives representing Northerners and Inuit’s heritage and culture.
Reception table	POLAR staff will welcome you at the reception table and hand out information booklets. Afterwards, you will be free to enjoy the various POLAR activities at the CHARS campus.
POLAR Mural	We are inviting guests to create a mural at the entrance of the campus to celebrate the official opening of the CHARS campus. The mural will be created with ‘My wish for the CHARS campus is’… wish cards. Can’t attend the official opening? No worries! Download our printable electronic version here and send us your wish card at info@polar.gc.ca to participate in this collective mural!
Videos — CHARS construction and field work photos	Check out our videos at the entrance of the campus to learn more about the construction of the CHARS campus. You can also catch a glimpse of photos of field work from POLAR staff and visiting researchers.
POLAR information booth	Want to learn more about POLAR? Come by our information booth and meet our friendly employees!
Campus tour gathering point	Tours of the CHARS campus will be offered throughout the official opening ceremonies. You can also tour the public areas of the campus with our new self-guided booklet!
Kids colouring activity	Come and color with us! We’ll have crayons and coloring pages from POLAR and the Canadian Museum of Nature.
Arctic Fish exhibit	Check out this cool Museum of Nature’s Beneath the Surface: Arctic Fish X-Ray exhibit. You will learn more about the anatomy and history of the fish that live in the cold waters of the Canadian Arctic.
Hakalikitak Naotiak Nunaptingni – Butterflies and Plants of our Land	Discover local lichens and vascular plants, Arctic bugs that play a critical role in the local environment, and come check out POLAR’s automated soil gas flux chamber system.
Flora of the Canadian Arctic exhibit	Come see this beautiful Canadian Museum of Nature’s Flora of the Canadian Arctic exhibit! It features herbarium sheet reproductions of plants collected during the Canadian Arctic Expedition (1913-1918) and on recent trips by the Museum’s scientists.
Giant floor map activity	Want to stand at the top of the world? Check out our giant floor map and take part in our fun learning activity about the Arctic region.
Antarctic map activity	Want to know what are the connections between Arctic and Antarctic environments? Join us for this dynamic activity!
Science experiments	Interested in science? Come by the teaching lab to learn more about basic scientific concepts.

For more information regarding the official opening ceremonies, please contact us at info@polar.gc.ca

Polar Knowledge Canada looks forward to welcoming you to future events at the CHARS campus and elsewhere in the North in the years to come.