{"id":565775,"date":"2026-03-28T03:54:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T03:54:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/565775\/"},"modified":"2026-03-28T03:54:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T03:54:18","slug":"opportunity-for-everybody-in-defence-network-for-arctic-military-official-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/565775\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Opportunity for everybody\u2019 in defence network for Arctic, military official says"},"content":{"rendered":"

A $2.7-billion defence network planned for Canada\u2019s Arctic is starting come into focus, but finer details are in the planning stages, says Commodore Matthew Coates.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Commodore Matthew Coates says the operational support hubs will help \u201csustain\u201d the Canadian military in the Arctic. (Photo courtesy of Department of National Defence)<\/p>\n

Coates leads a roughly 25-member team working on the development of seven northern operational support hubs and nodes.<\/p>\n

These sites will provide accommodation, warehouses and storage to help \u201csustain\u201d the Canadian military in the Arctic, following recent announcements that the federal government will inject billions of dollars to bolster Arctic defence.<\/p>\n

Coates spoke to Nunatsiaq News about what this expanded military presence in the North might look like.<\/p>\n

The Canadian Armed Forces currently has four operational support hubs \u2014 all of them overseas \u2014 in Germany, Kuwait, Jamaica and Senegal. But in 2024, the federal government announced three new northern hubs as part of its $81.1-billion defence policy.<\/p>\n

Back then, the idea was to create three hubs<\/a> \u2014 in Iqaluit, Inuvik and Yellowknife \u2014 for $2.7 billion.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/p>\n

But earlier this month, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced<\/a> an expansion of the program.<\/p>\n

Two more hubs were added to the proposed network \u2014 in Whitehorse and Resolute Bay \u2014 as well as two \u201cnodes\u201d in Cambridge Bay and Rankin Inlet. Nodes are smaller versions of hubs.<\/p>\n

The idea behind the additions is to cover as much of the different Arctic as possible, Coates said.<\/p>\n

\u201cUltimately, just by looking at the geography itself, I think it becomes fairly intuitive how we\u2019re trying to establish the logistical sustainment for the entire region,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

But while adding more infrastructure to the plan, Carney didn\u2019t announce any more funding for the four additional projects. The military is spreading out its initial $2.7-billion allocation for the three original hubs to all seven sites.<\/p>\n

Carney also announced a separate $32-billion funding package for upgrades to four existing forward operating locations in \u00a0Yellowknife, Inuvik, Iqaluit and Goose Bay, locations operated by the Royal Canadian Air Force.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe think it\u2019s feasible,\u201d Coates said of the amount of funding earmarked for the hubs and nodes.<\/p>\n

\u201cEach location is going to be slightly different. What makes up a node or a hub in any one location will be different and depending on what may exist in a location.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also, the armed forces operational support hubs team will be able to piggyback on the air force\u2019s $32-billion package by sharing some infrastructure and equipment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can work together as perhaps two entities but within the department, to make sure that we\u2019re coherent, and we can be economical on our efforts,\u201d Coates said.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s estimated that each hub or node will take two to 10 years to establish.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/p>\n

The timelines would depend on the facility\u2019s size and whether the Defence Department would build the infrastructure from scratch, lease existing buildings or jointly operate out of spaces used by other government departments.<\/p>\n

Each hub or node will also likely come with military or civilian personnel that will \u201coversee\u201d the infrastructure, Coates said, adding that it might mean jobs for the local workforce.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether it\u2019s through the the building of infrastructure or taking care of infrastructure, there\u2019s lots of opportunity here for everybody,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Former national defence minister Bill Blair announces the locations of three Northern operational support hubs on March 6, 2025 in Iqaluit (File photo by Arty Sarkisian)<\/p>\n

Over the years, many military experts have expressed alarm at how much Canada underfunds Arctic defence, with some going as far as to say the region is completely undefended<\/a> against potential threats.<\/p>\n

And Carney has shared this sentiment.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor too long, instead of re-enforcing your strength, we have relied too heavily on your dedication alone to keep Canadians secure. Well, no more,\u201d Carney said while addressing service members Thursday in Halifax.<\/p>\n

Researcher Ken Coates expressed criticism<\/a> last year about the government\u2019s operational support hub announcement. Now, he\u2019s changed his view.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom being a skeptic last year, I\u2019m actually sort of more of an optimist now,\u201d he told<\/a> Nunatsiaq News earlier in March.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to see development.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The federal government plans to build five operational support hubs in Inuvik, Iqaluit, Resolute Bay, Whitehorse and Yellowknife along with smaller \u201cnodes\u201d in Cambridge Bay and Rankin Inlet. (Map by Nunatsiaq News)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A $2.7-billion defence network planned for Canada\u2019s Arctic is starting come into focus, but finer details are in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":565776,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-565775","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-environment","11":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=565775"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565775\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/565776"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=565775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=565775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=565775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}