Canadian Armed Forces to expand Arctic operations in 2026

The Canadian Armed Forces says it will conduct a series of operations across the Arctic and North throughout 2026 aimed at strengthening Canada’s sovereignty and responding to potential threats in the region.

The operations will involve ships, aircraft, vehicles and personnel from the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, Royal Canadian Air Force and Canadian Special Operations Forces Command. The activities will be carried out in coordination with the Canadian Coast Guard and allied forces.

Operations will span land, maritime, air, cyber and space domains and will be supported by modern command-and-control systems and Northern Operational Support Hubs designed to improve mobility, reach and response in northern regions.

The military says the activities are intended to improve its ability to detect and deter potential threats, while also contributing to the defence of North America alongside Canada’s North Atlantic Treaty Organization and Arctic allies.

The 2026 program begins with Operation NANOOK-NUNALIVUT, which will focus on long-range sustainment along the Northwest Passage and defensive activities in Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

Additional Operation NANOOK exercises planned for the year include NANOOK-NUNAKPUT, involving activities along the Northwest Passage; NANOOK-TUUGAALIK, focused on maritime interoperability with the Coast Guard and NATO allies; NANOOK-TAKUNIQ, centred on air-land integration and Canadian Ranger patrols; NANOOK-TATIGIIT, which will involve whole-of-government crisis response; and NANOOK-QIMAAVIVUT, focused on military engineering and infrastructure work.

The military will also continue several ongoing missions in the region, including Operation LIMPID, a surveillance-based effort to detect threats to Canada’s security and sovereignty; Operation BOXTOP, a logistics mission that resupplies Canadian Forces Station Alert; and Operation LATITUDE, a maritime operation focused on detecting and deterring potential threats in the western Arctic.