Backgrounder - Arctic Research Infrastructure Fund: Project Descriptions

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Following a Call for Proposals issued on February 20, 2009 and subsequent review process, the following 20 infrastructure projects were selected for federal government funding under the $85 million Arctic Research Infrastructure Fund:

Arctic Health Research Network, Northwest Territories
Project Lead: Arctic Health Research Network, Northwest Territories
Location: Yellowknife, Northwest Territories
* [up to $1,605,670]

The Arctic Health Research Network, Northwest Territories (AHRN NT) was established in 2005. Funding will increase public health research facility space and create a training centre in Yellowknife focusing on community-based methods, data collection, and analysis for public health research.

Arctic Migratory Bird Research Network
Project Lead: Environment Canada
Locations: Nunavut and Northwest Territories
* [up to $748,555]

Over the past 35 years, a network of field stations has been developed that spans a number of key migratory bird breeding sites, from Hudson Bay in the southeast to Cornwalis Island in the Central Arctic and the Mackenzie Delta in the west. Funding will allow eight facilities to improve health, safety and environmental standards, electrical and telecommunication capacity, and enhance existing infrastructure to better support scientific research.

Aurora Research Institute
Project Lead: Aurora College
Location: Inuvik, Northwest Territories
* [up to $11,000,000]

In operation since 1964, the Aurora Research Institute (ARI) supplies logistics and licensing support to researchers in the Western Arctic region. ARI’s mandate is to improve the quality of life for NWT residents by applying scientific, technological, and indigenous knowledge to solve northern problems and advance social and economic goals. To continue to meet this mandate, ARI’s current research facility must be replaced. Funding will go towards the construction of a new facility with upgraded laboratory and office space.

Centre d'études nordiques (CEN) - SAON Network
Project Lead: Université Laval
Locations: Nunavik Territory, Québec and Nunavut
* [up to $8,285,613]

The CEN network of research stations began in 1968. The network is in the eastern Arctic from northern Québec to the far northern limit of the High Arctic in Nunavut. The CEN is a leading centre of excellence for the study of high latitude climate, landscapes, aquatic environments, vegetation and wildlife. Funding will allow for environmental and safety upgrades to accommodations, laboratory, and storage space at all eight facilities to ensure secure working conditions, reduce environmental footprints and improve energy efficiency. Additional funds will be used to add on a new Community Science Training Centre to facilitate research planning, training and knowledge exchange with the international, national and local communities at the Whapmagoostui research station.

Churchill Northern Studies Centre
Project Lead: Churchill Northern Studies Centre
Location: Churchill, Manitoba
* [up to $11,000,000]

The Churchill Northern Studies Centre (CNSC) is a non-profit research and education facility 23 km east of Churchill. Established in 1976, CNSC provides meals and accommodation, laboratory space, transportation, equipment and storage services to researchers working in the biological, physical, and social sciences. The facility is used by many academic and government agencies and serves as a key regional logistics hub for Canada’s Sub-Arctic. Funding will allow for upgrades to two existing facilities that date to 1984 and 1976, as well as a new Northern Studies Centre that will be a showcase for the construction of highly efficient, green buildings in Canada’s North.

H. S. Bostock Geological Core Library
Project Lead: Yukon Geological Survey
Location: Whitehorse, Yukon
* [up to $3,885,000]

Run by the Yukon Geological Survey (YGS), the H.S. Bostock Core Library is a facility that supports geoscience research in the Yukon. The facility supports mineral exploration in Yukon and provides information to enable stewardship and sustainable development of the Territory’s energy, mineral, and land resources. Built in 1972, the facility houses the Yukon rock sample collection and over 120,000 metres of diamond drill core donated by industry or recovered from field sites by the YGS. These cores are used by Territorial, Provincial, Federal and University-based geoscientists and other international geological surveys. The Library has nearly reached its capacity. Funding will allow for renovations and upgrades to provide increased secure storage for current and future specimens as well as for the storage of equipment required for geological field research.

Health Canada Radiological Monitoring Network
Project Lead: Health Canada
Locations: Nunavut and Northwest Territories
* [up to $1,440,000]

Health Canada operates an extensive radiological monitoring network in the North, which supports the Government of Canada’s obligations under the Federal Nuclear Emergency Plan and the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), a United Nations agency. The information gathered from this network contributes to a more thorough understanding of the major sources and pathways of airborne contaminants in the Arctic. Funding will allow for upgrades to expand four separate monitoring sites in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories (Alert, Resolute Bay, Iqaluit and Yellowknife).

kANGIDLUASUk Base Camp
Project Lead: Nunatsiavut Government
Location: Saglek Bay, Nunatsiavut Territory, Newfoundland and Labrador
* [up to $2,765,638]

Since 2006, the Nunatsiavut Government and Parks Canada have operated kANGIDLUASUk – an Inuit-managed base camp in Saglek Bay on Inuit-owned land at the southern boundary of the Torngat Mountains National Park. Over the past number of years, this area has been experiencing an increase in the number of field research requests. This funding will allow for kANGIDLUASUk to be upgraded with the addition of a kitchen, dining facilities, sleeping quarters and a separate building for a laboratory. The buildings will use green technologies for heating and electricity, with appropriate fuel containment facilities.

Kluane Lake Research Station
Project Lead: Arctic Institute of North America (at the University of Calgary)
Location: Kluane, Yukon
* [up to $3,393,000]

The Kluane Lake Research Station, built in 1961, is at the southern tip of Kluane Lake. For nearly 50 years the facility has supported a wide variety of research ranging from glaciology, geomorphology, geology, geography, ecology, botany, zoology, hydrology, limnology, climatology, high-altitude physiology, anthropology, and archaeology. The station has been an anchor for science in this region with a long tradition of fostering major interdisciplinary science programs. Funding will allow for the renovation and upgrading of several existing buildings with increased accommodation, storage, green energy capacities (e.g. wind and solar), as well as laboratory space at both the base site and associated field sites. Improvements will bring the buildings and services up to modern standards and better meet increased needs.

Labrador Institute and Nunatsiavut Research Centre
Project Lead: Memorial University and Nunatsiavut Government
Locations: North West River, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Nain, Nunatsiavut Territory of Newfoundland and Labrador
* [up to $2,499,000]

This project will renovate existing research facilities in two communities in Labrador. The first, the North West River Learning Centre, serves a diverse Aboriginal and Northern population in central Labrador’s boreal region. The facility will be a hub for research in Labrador, supporting local research activities and providing logistical services to satellite facilities in other communities throughout Labrador. The second, the Nunatsiavut Research Centre, serves Inuit in Nunatsiavut, ranging from north of Lake Melville to the northern tip of the Torngat Mountains. The organization facilitates scientific research in the areas of climate change, environmental sustainability, resource production, alternative energy, population monitoring, contaminants, cultural history, health, education, Arctic sovereignty and language retention. Funding will allow for an increase in accommodations, lab space, storage, classrooms, meeting rooms, and libraries.

M'Clintock Channel Polar Bear Research Cabins
Project Lead: Queen’s University
Location: Gjoa Haven, Nunavut
* [up to $500,000]

The community of Gjoa Haven has made significant steps in compiling local Inuit knowledge regarding polar bears. A critical part of this work has been the use of Hunter and Trapper Organization cabins on the coast of M’Clintock Channel. These cabins are critical staging points for the extensive sea ice work involved in the polar bear surveys and the collection of Traditional Ecological Knowledge on polar bears. Funding will allow for the refurbishment and upgrading of existing cabins for scientific and traditional research on polar bear and other wildlife in the region.

Nunavik Research Centre
Project Lead: Makivik Corporation
Location: Kuujjuaq, Nunavik Territory, Québec
* [up to $4,910,159]

The Nunavik Research Centre is operated by Makivik Corporation, a non-profit organization created under the James Bay and Northern Québec Agreement, which represents the interests of the Inuit of Nunavik. Since 1977, this facility has focused on climate change, contaminants and wildlife parasites research for Inuit in the region. The Centre also provides logistics support to visiting scientific partners. The existing facility was built as a weather observatory in the 1940s and can no longer be upgraded. Funding will allow for the construction of a new multi-purpose building including laboratories, offices, library, storage, work space and a garage. The new structure will be more energy efficient, reducing heating and maintenance costs as well as disruptions to research work caused by frequent repairs.

Nunavut Research Institute
Project Lead: Nunavut Arctic College
Location: Iqaluit, Nunavut
* [up to $11,000,000]

For over 30 years the Nunavut Research Institute (NRI) has provided multidisciplinary scientific support for field work and licensing. Its location in Iqaluit makes it a logistical hub for scientists working in the eastern Arctic. Despite its active use over 30 years, the Iqaluit Research Centre has never been significantly renovated or upgraded. This funding will allow NRI to replace the old facility with a new building that will be larger, more modern, more energy efficient and have greater capacity for NRI to expand its current research activities and services in the health, natural, and social sciences.

Nunavut Research Vessel
Project Lead: Government of Nunavut
Location: Iqaluit, Nunavut
* [up to $1,874,560]

The past two years of activities has demonstrated to the Government of Nunavut’s Division of Fisheries and Sealing and Nunavut stakeholders that its current research platform is not sufficient to meet the research needs for Nunavut’s inshore fishery. This project will upgrade Nunavut's research capabilities to include a larger, safer research platform with a complete capability to operate within the full range of Nunavut's territorial sea and near coastal waters over an entire Arctic marine season. Funding will allow for building and equipping a new research vessel to serve as a research platform able to undertake critical scientific research in support of sustainable development in the fishery and protection of the marine environment.

Old Crow Research Facility
Project Lead: Vuntut Gwitchin Government
Location: Old Crow, Yukon
* [up to $2,044,950]

The Vuntut Gwitchin fly-in community of Old Crow in the Yukon has long been welcoming researchers and visitors to its traditional territory since the 1920s. The facility has a significant collection of artefacts, fossils, and oral and recorded data that is of global importance. In recent years, the demand from many universities across North America to conduct research in or near Old Crow has increased. Funding will allow the community of Old Crow to continue hosting researchers by renovating and expanding a small facility. The upgraded facility will also house the Old Crow Paleontological collection for academic and government researchers. Renovations will allow expanded space to house the science logistics equipment of various users including: academics, the Vuntut Gwitchin Government’s Natural Resource Department and Parks Canada.

Polar Continental Shelf Project (PCSP)
Project Lead: Natural Resources Canada
Location: Resolute, Nunavut
* [up to $11,000,000]

The Polar Continental Shelf Project (PCSP) has been supporting science in the Canadian Arctic for the past 50 years and is nationally and internationally recognized as an outstanding and efficient research logistics provider. The PCSP supports up to 165 research projects each year, involving over 1100 researchers. These studies are in a range of disciplines in the natural and social sciences, including archaeology, biology, climatology, glaciology, geology, limnology, permafrost science, sea ice studies and Traditional Knowledge. This project will help ensure the PCSP’s continued strong support of field research throughout Canada’s North. Funding will allow PCSP to nearly double the capacity of the Resolute facility to ensure that current and future client demands are met, provide necessary infrastructure to accommodate an extended operational season and reduce the environmental impact of PCSP’s northern operations.

Polar Environment Atmospheric Laboratory (PEARL)
Project Lead: Dalhousie University
Location: Eureka, Nunavut
* [up to $1,793,678]

The Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory (PEARL) in Eureka, Nunavut is the most northerly university-led atmospheric research facility in Canada. PEARL is one of the very few atmospheric observatories in the High Arctic and the only one in the Canadian sector. The ridge laboratory was constructed in 1992. The laboratory has been operating in its present form since 2005. Funding will allow the facility to upgrade its telecommunications capability to transfer scientific data and communications to and from this remote location. Funds will also be used to renovate the facility’s infrastructure to allow for increased science capacity. These upgrades and renovations will also improve overall health and safety at the facility.

Quttinirpaaq National Park
Project Lead: Parks Canada
Location: Ellesmere Island, Nunavut
[up to $1,155,540]

Quttinirpaaq National Park maintains the three most northern research facilities in the Canadian Arctic that have served the scientific community for over half a century. Existing facilities at Ward Hunt Island, Lake Hazen and Tanquary Fiord that provide accommodation and storage have received minimal upgrades over the years. Facilities are used for science, including monitoring ice conditions (Ayles Island Ice Shelf) and for mapping Canada's continental shelf (UNCLOS). Funding will allow for site improvements to provide functional, safe, and modern living quarters, sanitation, and fuel storage using available solar and wind power.

Yukon College
Project Lead: Yukon College
Location: Whitehorse, Yukon
[up to $2,502,000]

Since 1991, the Northern Research Institute at Yukon College has been facilitating research in the territory. It is a multidisciplinary research environment, where applied, pure, social science and humanities can work together in answering questions about the North’s environment, people and structures. Yukon College, through the Northern Research Institute, administers a number of research programs focused in various areas including climate change, social economy, cold climate innovations and biodiversity. The growth of these programs is limited by current facilities. Funding will allow Yukon College to renovate existing research offices and build heated and unheated storage facilities within a fenced compound. This project will provide enhancements to the College's research infrastructure to better serve its current needs, as well as meet future demands.

Yukon Forestry
Project Lead: Government of Yukon
Location: Whitehorse, Yukon
* [up to $1,596,637]

In recent years, heightened interest in forest industry expansion has coincided with a growing awareness of the impacts of climate change on Yukon forest ecosystems. To date, changes in the climate have triggered significant ecological responses in Yukon forests, including a large-scale spruce bark beetle outbreak. Northern forest-dependent communities are expected to be significantly impacted by these ecological changes because of their strong connections to forested ecosystems. Funding will allow for the upgrading and renovation of a greenhouse built in 1989, a research laboratory at the Forest Management Branch's compound, and the research centre at the Gunnar Nilsson Mickey Lammers Research Forest built in 1971. These investments will enhance Yukon Government’s current research capacity as well as create new opportunities for Northern forestry research partnerships.

*Projects will be monitored through regular due diligence and reporting. They will be allocated funding in a phased approach, up to the total recommended to ensure that projects are proceeding as expected.