By Ted Barnes, 15 December 2025
Foreign Minister Anita Anand was in Brussels recently sounding the alarm about something naval planners have known for years: the Arctic is no longer a quiet corner of the map. Melting ice, new shipping routes and Russia’s accelerating military infrastructure north of the 70th parallel have turned the High North into a geopolitical flashpoint.
With Finland and Sweden now in NATO, seven of the eight Arctic states are covered by Article 5. The front line of Euro Atlantic security has moved north, and Canada sits at the centre of it whether it’s ready or not.
Anand wants NATO to take the Arctic seriously. Former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen is calling for a dedicated NATO Arctic strategy. Both are right. But strategy only matters if Canada brings capability to the table.
What Canada Should Actually Do?
Build a NATO capable Arctic naval hub in Iqaluit. Every other Arctic NATO state field usable northern naval infrastructure. Canada has… seasonal fuel bladders and a dream.
A purpose-built Iqaluit Arctic Operating Station, jetty, fuel farm, communications suite, workshops, cold weather support, and accommodations would transform the region from a talking point into an asset.
This is where a coordinated posture with US Second Fleet becomes crucial. RCN RADM David Mazur is 2nd Fleets Vice Commander. Second Fleet already holds responsibility for the North Atlantic and has been pushing farther north each year with surface groups and integrated anti-submarine warfare (ASW) patrols. A Canadian led Iqaluit hub would give Second Fleet:
• A reliable northern logistics touchpoint;
• A seasonal forward presence option for NATO task groups;
• A base of operations for joint ASW and under ice surveillance trials; and
• A true anchor point for combined operations in Baffin Bay and Davis Strait.
Canada doesn’t need a massive naval base, just a capable one that ties directly into the US Second Fleet/Joint Force Command Norfolk framework that already guards the Greenland-Iceland-UK gap.
Create a Standing NATO Maritime Force, Arctic (SNMG-A)
Rasmussen is calling for “concrete capability targets.” Canada should set the tone.
Proposal:
• A seasonal Arctic maritime group, rotating command, Canada should take the first two cycles;
• One vessel per Arctic ally or other support during the navigation season;
• Joint ASW focus, including multi static networks, UUVs and seabed sensors; and
• Exercises synchronized with Second Fleet and JFC Norfolk to ensure the Arctic front ties into Atlantic defence.
This fills the biggest strategic gap NATO currently has: a coherent northern naval presence.
Finish and expand northern infrastructure. Canada’s Arctic strategy cannot be PowerPoint deep.
We need:
• Churchill and Nanisivik brought up to full operational standard;
• A real Iqaluit deepwater jetty not a ‘future study’;
• Reinforced runways at Inuvik and Rankin Inlet;
• Over the horizon sensors, new polar radars, and seabed surveillance; and
• Permanent logistics and SAR capabilities in Baffin Bay.
Make Canada the hub for NATO–Second Fleet Arctic operations. This is where we can punch above our weight.
A coordinated triad:
1. Canada — Arctic basing, presence, sovereignty
2. NATO Allies — rotating ships, aircraft, exercises
3. US Second Fleet — command integration, ASW expertise, ready forces
This is the blueprint for a credible northern posture:
• Combined operations out of Iqaluit;
• SNMG-A working directly under JFC Norfolk for Arctic Atlantic coherence;
• Joint submarine monitoring trials in Davis Strait;
• US-Canadian co-command of seasonal maritime group deployments; and
• Arctic resilient C2 networks shared across NORAD and NATO.
If Canada leads the infrastructure and diplomacy, Second Fleet brings the mass, the experience, and the operational rhythm. Together, they form the backbone of a NATO Arctic deterrent.
Canada’s Window of Opportunity
For years, Canada was the Arctic straggler, lots of speeches, few hulls and even fewer northern facilities. But NATO expansion and US Second Fleet’s renewed North Atlantic focus give Canada a rare opportunity: we can shape the Arctic security agenda or remain spectators while others shape it for us.
If Canada builds real infrastructure, proposes real NATO force structures, and partners deeply with Second Fleet, it becomes the indispensable Arctic ally. If it doesn’t, then someone else will set the tone, and Canada’s map of the North may matter less with each passing year.
The Arctic is waking up. Now the question is whether Canada will.
Image: HMCS Harry Dewolf and Canadian Coast Guard vessel CCGS Louis St. Laurent both at anchor in Iqaluit during Operation NANOOK, on 19 August 2023. Credit: Pte Brendan Gamache, Canadian Armed Forces Photo
