Ottawa unveils plans to build 3 military hubs in the Arctic

Northern Affairs Minister Dan Vandal, right, Minister of National Defence Bill Blair, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly, and Yvonne Jones, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence, speak with reporters at a media roundtable in Iqaluit, Monday, May 6, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Dustin Patar

OTTAWA — The federal government will build northern military operational support hubs in Iqaluit, Yellowknife, and Inuvik, Defence Minister Bill Blair announced Thursday, while promising there will be more to come as Ottawa ramps up its military footprint in the Arctic.

The hubs are the cornerstone of the federal government’s Arctic security strategy, which committed $2.67 billion over 20 years to building them.

Blair was in Iqaluit Thursday to announce the first three locations and said the department is planning to build more than the five operational hubs discussed in Canada’s new defence policy last April.

“The discussions that we’ve been having in the subsequent 10 months clearly indicates that there may be additional locations,” Blair told The Canadian Press. He didn’t offer a precise number.

“It’s been an ongoing discussion with Canadians, but also with our allies, that Canada needs to do more to secure its sovereignty and defend our country,” Blair added. “And the Arctic is probably the most important place to do it.”

Operational support hubs are not military bases. The Department of National Defence says they support military operations through communications and transport infrastructure and by providing secure storage for supplies.

The hubs will also be tasked with assisting search and rescue efforts in the region. Currently, military aircraft taking part in search-and-rescue missions in the Arctic often have to fly in from hundreds of kilometres away -- particularly for searches in Nunavut.

While the Iqaluit, Yellowknife and Inuvik hubs will build on the infrastructure already in place for Norad Forward Operating Locations in those locations, it’s not clear what kind of military functions the hubs will carry out.

Asked whether he sees fighter jets being stationed at the hubs in the future, Blair said those operational discussions will happen in due course.

“Ultimately, I think the Air Force has got to tell me, for example, what to do with the fighter jets,” Blair said.

He said while the government has invested $230 million in extending the airport runway in Inuvik, the facility’s six hangars can’t accommodate the new F-35 fighter jets Canada is buying.

“There’s challenges in that region on fuel depots. I don’t want the military to compete with the community for power generation and heating,” he said.

“I think there’s a real opportunity for us to talk about the things that we need to do from the military side that would be mutually beneficial to the community and the people that live there.”

The announcement is being welcomed by the territorial government and the City of Iqaluit, since the military is promising improved infrastructure in the city to operate the hub -- including better communications, water and power facilities.

Northern premiers have been lobbying Ottawa to tie infrastructure upgrades to military spending, both as a means of nation-building and to help push Canada toward its NATO spending target of two per cent of national GDP.

“This is a window where we see any infrastructure coming to the North is, I think, a win for Canada and for Nunavut,” Premier P.J. Akeeagok told The Canadian Press.

“Whenever there’s major investments, especially in government such as military, that comes with really good jobs.”

Thursday’s announcement offered few details about which items of infrastructure will be upgraded to support the hubs.

Blair said those discussions haven’t happened yet because the first step was to select the locations.

“One of the challenges is, until we actually named the operational support hubs, we couldn’t go to the next stage of those discussions about what now needs to be done,” Blair said.

He said the debate about Canada’s NATO defence spending target isn’t just “about how much money we have to spend.”

“I really want to start talking about how much money we’ll have to invest, and what’s the best way to invest those dollars that’ll help build our country and secure our sovereignty,” he added.

Blair said those conversations should take into account what “the people in the North need” and how Ottawa can “invest in things that are mutually beneficial.”

While plans for the hubs were announced nearly a year ago, federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre recently committed to building a military base in Iqaluit if he wins the next election, and doubling the number of Canadian Rangers in the Arctic.

By Nick Murray

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 6, 2025.