Arctic sovereignty, energy security and northern investment are set to dominate this week’s 25th Annual Arctic Energy & Resource Symposium, as government officials, Indigenous leaders, resource executives and defence voices gather in Calgary for a conference that reflects how quickly the North has become a front-rank national concern.
The event is scheduled for March 25 and 26 at Hotel Arts. Organizers say it will bring together more than 85 delegates and more than 75 companies.
The conference is co-chaired by Bill Whitelaw of Rextag and Mellisa Mercredi of Rio Tinto, opens with pre-recorded remarks from Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, and features keynote appearances by Paul Gruner of the Tlicho Investment Corporation, Senator Dawn Anderson, and ATCO Frontec president Jim Landon. Scheduled speakers also include retired chief of the defence staff Wayne Eyre, Resource Works president and CEO Stewart Muir, Macdonald-Laurier Institute expert Heather Exner-Pirot, and Northwest Territories minister Caitlin Cleveland.
A comprehensive northern agenda
What makes the symposium notable is the breadth of the file it is trying to cover. Sessions range from creating Arctic sovereignty through northern infrastructure and natural resource development, to logistical bottlenecks in remote communities, to precious metals exploration, renewables and diesel displacement, food security and housing, and the Department of National Defence’s plans for Arctic security and sovereignty.
Day 2 shifts to responsible resource governance, the Grays Bay Port and Road project, Indigenous economic development through impact benefit agreements and equity participation, an Arctic economic roundtable, and fuel storage risks in the North.
Federal investments and global threats
In a March 18, 2025 federal announcement on Arctic security and sovereignty, Ottawa said it intended to work with Australia on a $6 billion Arctic Over-the-Horizon Radar system and commit $420 million to a greater sustained Canadian Armed Forces presence in the North.
The same package included $94 million for power plant upgrades in Cambridge Bay, Gjoa Haven, Igloolik and Iqaluit, $73.85 million over 10 years for Nunavut housing infrastructure, $65.2 million over seven years for housing initiatives, and $20 million for the proposed Iqaluit Nukkiksautiit hydro project.
That makes the security discussion in Calgary especially timely. In a February article for the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, Sweekriti Pathak argued the Arctic is no longer insulated from global tensions, and said Russia and China are increasingly using grey-zone tactics based on sustained presence, data collection and infrastructure development rather than open force. Pathak also argued Canada’s alliances are not designed to manage that kind of ambiguity, warning that Ottawa risks slowly losing strategic ground through inaction.
Securing local decision-making
Those anxieties now extend beyond ships and surveillance to local decision-making in the North. Elizabeth Donkervoort of the China Strategic Risks Institute has said Inuit communities often lack the information and technical support needed to assess Chinese investment proposals. The same report included quotes from Conservative MP Shuvaloy Majumdar, who argued the Investment Canada Act does not adequately capture unsolicited or subnational foreign infrastructure offers, and noted CSIS testimony identifying China as a primary threat to Canada’s Arctic sovereignty.
A separate January Macdonald-Laurier Institute piece by Christopher Coates argued Canada should work more closely with Nordic and Baltic countries to build an Arctic arc of stability stretching from the Baltic Sea through the North Atlantic and into the Canadian Arctic.
Whether Ottawa embraces that framework or not, this week’s Calgary program is about sovereignty, resilience, investment certainty and who will shape the warming North as global interest in it intensifies.
Geoff Russ is a writer for Resource Works, a non-partisan organization that champions responsible resource development in British Columbia and Canada. Reach Geoff at [email protected].
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