With defence and economic activity increasing in the North, regional experts say Ottawa may not have sufficient diplomatic capacity to build ties and protect Indigenous priorities.
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Canada’s plans to expand defence and economic activity in the Arctic have prompted regional experts to question whether the federal government has enough diplomatic resources to strengthen relationships across the circumpolar world. Natan Obed, president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, said Global Affairs Canada does not have “huge bench strength when it comes to Arctic diplomacy,” warning that the pace and scale of international attention are outstripping existing staffing.
The concerns come as Ottawa has shifted its approach to Arctic engagement in recent years. In 2023, the Trudeau government closed the Canadian International Arctic Centre, a hub for diplomacy that had been operating from Canada’s embassy in Norway since 2009, and which helped prepare officials for Arctic postings by connecting them with relevant contacts and conferences.
Global Affairs Canada cited “high costs in Oslo” and expected savings of $550,000 per year when it closed CIAC, according to a briefing note obtained in the underlying reporting. The department argued that Canada’s Arctic team would be more effective working from Ottawa and aligning policy with the Biden administration, pointing to the department’s ability to engage worldwide through technology under a hybrid work model.
Artur Wilczynski, who served as Canada’s ambassador to Oslo from 2014 to 2018, said the closure was “incoherent,” arguing that effective Arctic diplomacy requires a cohort with deep understanding of a complex and diverse region rather than knowledge developed primarily through virtual interaction. Wilczynski said CIAC had helped him identify and meet “key” Arctic contacts.
Ottawa’s diplomatic staffing questions also intersect with Canada’s stated foreign policy direction in the North. In December 2024, the Trudeau government released an Arctic foreign policy committing to boosting domestic and international collaboration to address emerging foreign threats, describing the region as “no longer free from tension” after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Under that policy, Ottawa appointed Virginia Mearns as Arctic ambassador last year and said it would create new consulates in Greenland and Alaska. The reporting notes that the Canadian ambassador for circumpolar affairs role was first created in 1994, shelved in 2004, and has since been revived through the current policy framework.
A concrete example of the new posture involves Greenland. In February, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand opened Canada’s first consulate in Nuuk, Greenland’s capital. Because of a shortage of buildings, the consulate operates out of the Icelandic consulate, and a briefing document estimates the operating cost at $8.76 million over five years, about $1.75 million annually.
According to the briefing document referenced in the reporting, the Nuuk consulate was originally intended to employ three full-time equivalents, but it has only one staffer. Global Affairs Canada said the figures were prepared for planning purposes and may be temporarily higher than actual costs if fewer staff were hired than planned, and the department did not say when the Alaska consulate will open or how many staff will work there.
Beyond consulates, experts say Ottawa also aims to ensure northerners have a voice in international platforms so federal decisions reflect local concerns. The Global Arctic Leadership Initiative is one mechanism used to connect Inuit and northern people with projects and conferences abroad while funding travel.
However, an internal audit by Global Affairs cited in the reporting, dated May 2025, said closing the Canadian International Arctic Centre deprived the Global Arctic Leadership Initiative of “key contacts in the Arctic.” The audit said this resulted in a “certain loss of expertise, outreach and support for the missions,” which in turn meant fewer opportunities for Indigenous and northern speakers to participate in international engagement.
Obed described the audit findings as evidence of shortcomings in Ottawa’s approach to engaging Inuit communities, while arguing there is “untapped” potential in the region. He said Inuit can help Canada make new contacts around the North Pole, but doing so requires greater administrative, political and policy “footprints” to engage effectively.
Marc Lanteigne, a political scientist in Montreal and a professor at the Arctic University of Norway in Tromsø, described how Canada has increased visibility in Nordic capitals through larger and more varied delegations to the annual Arctic Circle assembly in Iceland. He also said Canadian foreign ministers have met their five Nordic counterparts in recent years, helping maintain relationships even as Canada’s Arctic staffing evolves.
Lanteigne said Canada’s visibility question is increasingly urgent because of what he described as a “very sudden” rise in international interest in the Arctic, driven by expectations about shipping routes and by U.S. President Donald Trump’s talk of annexing Greenland, Canada and Iceland. He said these dynamics risk sidelining sovereignty and the livelihoods of Arctic residents in the rush to address global competition.
For Lanteigne, staffing needs may not require a large number of diplomats in every outpost, provided that those on the ground can connect with Indigenous communities, businesses, climate researchers and development experts. He described this as a form of “para-diplomacy,” arguing it can be more important during geopolitical turbulence when capitals may be in tension but share overlapping concerns.
He also argued that Canada should focus consulate and diplomatic efforts on identifying specific areas of mutual interest—particularly with partners such as those in Greenland and Norway—rather than trying to cover every issue amid shifting regional priorities. For Canada’s Arctic strategy, the practical challenge is pairing an expanded security and economic footprint with sufficient diplomatic capacity to sustain relationships and ensure Indigenous perspectives are reflected in international engagement.
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