The Arctic This Week Take Five: Week of 3 November, 2025

Canada Allocates CA$1 Billion to Arctic Infrastructure Fund

As reported by CBC News on November 4, Canadian Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced a CA$1 billion Arctic Infrastructure Fund as part of the 2025 federal budget.. The fund, managed by Transport Canada, will support major northern transportation projects, including airports, seaports, and all-season roads for both civilian and military use. (CBC News)

Take 1: The creation of a dedicated Arctic Infrastructure Fund marks an important step in Canada’s recognition of the needs of its northern territories and is situated within the broader framework of the budget’s stated goal to “Build Canada Strong”. The budget explicitly states that the planned infrastructure projects are intended to serve both community and military purposes, indicating that Canada is committed to ensuring its sovereignty in the north. Nevertheless, it is important to note that the scale of the fund is relatively modest. The fund will be allocated across Canada’s entire north for four years, and will thus need to serve many communities and projects. To put this in perspective, the Mackenzie Valley Highway project in the Northwest Territories alone costs around CA$1.65 billion. This raises questions about whether or not this fund can achieve anything more than incremental change. In parallel to infrastructure funds, the proposed budget leaves uncertainty around northern social programs. Departmental budgets for Indigenous Services Canada and Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada are facing budget cuts of around 2%, amounting to nearly CA$2.3 billion by 2030. Many other programs are also facing uncertainty around longer-term funding commitments beyond 2026. This is alarming as unresolved or underfunded social programs addressing health care access, food security, and (child) welfare, can undermine community resilience. While dedicated infrastructure measures are an important signal of intent, its modest size combined with uncertainties around social-program continuity, limits its concrete impact for Canada’s northern residents. (CBC News, CBC News, Government of Northwest Territories)

Russia Opens Russian Geographical Society Office in Svalbard

The Barents Observer shared on November 4 that the Russian Geographical Society opened an Expedition and Tourist Centre in Barentsburg, Svalbard, expanding the Arctic activities of the Society. Darya Slyunyaeva, a graduate of the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry, was appointed head of the Centre. Its initial projects will include creating an interactive map of Russia’s historical presence on the archipelago. (The Barents Observer)

Take 2: The opening of the Russian Geographical Society (RGS) office in Barentsburg (Russia’s settlement on Svalbard) represents the latest manifestation of Russia’s broader strategy of increasing its presence in the Arctic. Chaired by former Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, the RGS has been an important soft power instrument since its formation in 1845. At the recent RGS congress in Moscow, opened by President Putin, the Arctic and the occupied territories in Ukraine were explicitly designated as priority areas for Russia’s declared “Year of Geography” in 2027. Although RGS’ Barentsburg office is described as an expedition and tourist center, its first major project – mapping Russia’s historical presence on Svalbard – reveals the ambition to institutionalize a version of Arctic memory that frames Russia as a rightful stakeholder. This is also in line with the wider Russian agenda to create new maps of the Russian Federation in 2027. This emphasis on symbolic geography and historic narratives, often referred to as ‘memory politics’, also plays along the Russian-Norwegian borderland. The proliferation of Russian-sponsored remembrance activities since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and the construction of memorials in eastern Finnmark is an important example. Moreover, Victory Day parades have also been held in Russia’s settlement on Svalbard. This reflects efforts to reshape local historical narratives by invoking (wartime) heritage and assert a continuous presence. The RGS office in Svalbard thus transcends science or tourism, and is essentially concerned with claiming space in the Arctic’s past, present, and future. (Arctic Today, The Barents Observer, The Barents Observer)

China Concludes 2025 Arctic Deep-Dive Campaign

As reported by gCaptain on November 4, China carried out 43 manned submersible dives during its 2025 Arctic expedition, jointly organised by the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Coordinated missions involving two crewed deep-sea vehicles were also part of the undertaking. The operations, conducted in the Beaufort Sea and along the Gakkel Ridge, examined seabed structures and marine ecosystems. The dives were performed by the submersibles Fendouzhe and Jiaolong, supported by the research vessels Tan Suo San Hao and Shen Hai Yi Hoa. (gCaptain)

Take 3: The successful completion of these dives, including dual operations under thick sea ice, marks a substantial strategic and technological milestone for China. From an engineering perspective, this operation demonstrates China’s maturation of ship-submersible coordination in dense ice zones, a capability previously limited to unmanned or surface systems. However, narratives such as China being the only country able to conduct such operations under thick sea ice derive largely from Chinese state sources, and do not necessarily reflect independent verification. However, the mission points to the growing significance of China’s engagement in the High North and its commitment to becoming a pioneer in the management of deep-sea and seabed resources. Meanwhile, this also signals that China is attempting to close the operational gap with Arctic states like Russia or the United States and is moving closer to its objective of becoming a “polar great power” by 2030. While framed as scientific, it is important to point to the strategic value of such operations as well as its environmental repercussions. Especially the latter deserves more attention as the ecological risks associated with deep-sea operations and resource extraction remain understudied. While China’s Arctic dive campaign is an impressive yet provocative technological feat, closer scrutiny is warranted for the long-term scientific value and potential environmental impacts of such operations. (China State Council, gCaptain, Global Times)

US Icebreaker Healy Returns from Four-Month Arctic Patrol

On November 3, High North News reported that the US Coast Guard icebreaker Healy completed a 129-day Arctic patrol, covering more than 20,000 nautical miles. The mission, part of Operation Frontier Sentinel, aimed to safeguard US interests amid increased foreign activity in the region. The vessel, accompanied by icebreaker Storis for part of its deployment, monitored five Chinese research ships operating near Alaska and the US Extended Continental Shelf. Healy also supported scientific research by deploying and recovering oceanographic instruments. (High North News)

Take 4: Responding to heightened foreign activity, notably by China, the US Coast Guard deployed two icebreakers over the summer – the first such operation in over a decade. The USCGC Storis concluded its 112-day mission earlier in October, while Healy returned from its 129-day deployment on Sunday. The US Coast Guard carries out multi-purpose missions in the region, spanning scientific research, sovereignty patrols, protection of the Exclusive Economic Zone, and monitoring of shipping traffic, yet it continues to face a significant capability gap compared to Russia and China. The US icebreaker fleet currently consists of a mere three vessels, which severely limits full-year Arctic operations. Plans to expand the fleet have been advancing, with the US recently concluding a deal with Finland for the delivery of eleven additional Arctic Security Cutter icebreakers, yet the first five vessels are only scheduled for delivery by 2028, with possible delays unaccounted for. Meanwhile, the delivery of the larger Polar Security Cutters has been delayed until the 2030s. For now, the US continues to lag behind while actors like China and Russia rapidly expand their polar presence. After decades of limited focus on the north, the US is now facing the consequences while seeking to overcome its capability gaps. The Storis – the first icebreaker added to the Coast Guard’s arsenal in 25 years and a converted commercial vessel – serves as an important interim measure, but ultimately remains a stopgap rather than a long-term solution. (High North News, High North News, United States Coast Guard News)

New Study Links Melting Sea Ice to Stronger Polar Ocean Currents

Eye on the Arctic shared on November 5 that a new study published in Nature Climate Change and carried out by a group of researchers from the Institute of Basic Science and the Pusan National University (Republic of Korea) found that polar oceans are becoming increasingly turbulent. Using an ultra-high resolution global climate model, researchers discovered that the motion that circulates heat, carbon, and nutrients in the oceans is rising faster than expected. This is attributed to stronger winds in the Arctic and meltwater-driven current intensification around Antarctica, both of which are driving stronger and more chaotic ocean currents. (Eye on the Arctic)

Take 5: This study demonstrates that polar oceans are not just warming, they are also becoming much more chaotic in the process. As Arctic sea ice retreats, stronger winds and open water enable currents to swirl and churn more intensively than before. These swirling motions, referred to as mesoscale horizontal stirring (MHS), help to move heat, carbon, nutrients, and plankton around the ocean. However, shifts to MHS can impact marine ecosystems in an unpredictable way. For instance, plankton can be moved away from places where they normally flourish, which can lead to impactful adjustments to habitats and the availability of food for marine mammals and fish. Moreover, the increase in MHS could also alter the ocean’s ability to soak up heat and carbon. This is significant since polar oceans play a critical role in climate regulation and marine ecosystems. The study points out that while the projections for the Antarctic are more reliable, the changes in the Arctic might be under-estimated. This is further complicated by limited real-world observations in the Arctic and the fact that the Arctic Ocean varies strongly from one region to another. It is crucial to increase findings in the Arctic context, especially since Arctic shipping is becoming more popular. As shipping seasons lengthen and new routes open due to ice-loss, vessels will increasingly face more turbulent waters, raising the risks of navigation hazards and complicating shipping as well as search and rescue operations. (Eye on the Arctic, Nature Climate Change)