Canada’s $35 Billion Arctic Plan May Depend on Modern Treaties
Issue 03 | March 2026
Canada’s Arctic is moving rapidly to the centre of national policy. Last week, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced more than $35 billion in federal investments aimed at strengthening defence, building infrastructure, and unlocking economic potential across the North. The plan includes military upgrades, transportation corridors, energy projects, and new operational hubs across the Arctic region.
Much of the discussion so far has focused on geopolitics. Governments and analysts are framing the investments as a response to rising global tensions, Arctic shipping routes, and competition over critical minerals. But there is another dimension to this announcement that deserves attention. Many of the regions where these projects will take place are governed by Modern Treaties.
Across Canada’s Arctic and sub-Arctic, Indigenous governments operate under constitutionally protected Modern Treaty agreements, including:
Gwich’in Tribal Council
Sahtu Secretariat Incorporated
Makivik Corporation
Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee)/Cree Nation Government
In Yukon, eleven First Nations operate under self-government and land claim agreements:
Champagne and Aishihik First Nations
First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun
Teslin Tlingit Council
Little Salmon/Carmacks First Nation
Selkirk First Nation
Ta’an Kwäch’än Council
Canada’s Arctic strategy will unfold inside Modern Treaties
Together these Modern Treaty governments exercise authority over vast areas of northern lands and resources. That means the success of Canada’s Arctic strategy will not be determined by federal spending alone. It will also depend on how effectively major infrastructure and resource projects operate within these treaty governance systems.
Several projects referenced in the federal announcement intersect directly with treaty regions. Transportation corridors such as the Mackenzie Valley Highway, the proposed Grays Bay Road and Port, and the Arctic Economic and Security Corridor are intended to connect remote communities and mineral deposits to national and global markets.
In Modern Treaty regions, decisions about these developments do not move solely through federal or territorial regulators. They move through governance systems created under Modern Treaties, including environmental assessment boards, land use planning bodies, and wildlife management institutions.
These boards were designed to guide decisions about land use and development across treaty territories. As infrastructure investment accelerates in the Arctic, these institutions will play an increasingly visible role in shaping how projects move forward.
The same dynamic applies to defence infrastructure. Upgrades to forward operating locations, northern logistics hubs, and airport facilities will often take place within treaty regions. Questions related to land access, environmental oversight, and local economic participation will therefore intersect with treaty governance processes.
Sovereignty, infrastructure, and critical minerals
Canada’s Arctic strategy is frequently framed in terms of sovereignty and national defence. Radar systems, military hubs, and transportation corridors are presented as the infrastructure required to secure Canada’s Arctic presence.
But sovereignty in the North has always depended on more than military capability. It also depends on governance across vast regions where Indigenous governments exercise authority through Modern Treaties.
At the same time, the federal announcement highlights the role of Arctic infrastructure in unlocking critical mineral deposits. Roads, ports, and energy systems are being framed as the infrastructure needed to connect northern mineral resources to global supply chains. Many of these deposits sit within territories governed by Modern Treaties.
For governments and industry alike, this creates an important reality. The long-term stability of Canada’s Arctic development strategy may depend not only on geology and infrastructure, but also on how effectively projects operate within Modern Treaty governance systems.
A Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board hearing in January 2020. Photo by Emelie Peacock/Cabin Radio
What this may signal for Treaty implementation
For decades, much of the conversation about Indigenous participation in major projects centred on consultation. Governments and proponents focused on how to engage Indigenous communities during project approvals.
Modern Treaties operate differently. They establish governance systems that define how decisions about land, resources, and development are made. Environmental review boards such as the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board and the Nunavut Impact Review Board, land management institutions such as the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board, and regional planning bodies such as the Gwich’in Land Use Planning Board create structured processes that guide how projects move forward.
As Arctic infrastructure and resource development accelerate, these institutions will play a central role in shaping how those projects are planned and implemented. Major transportation corridors, defence installations, and critical minerals projects will all test how these governance systems operate in practice.
For many Indigenous governments, the coming decade may represent another stage in treaty implementation, one focused less on negotiating agreements and more on exercising the authorities those agreements established.
Canada’s Arctic strategy will not only unfold through federal investments or defence infrastructure, but also through the governance systems established by Modern Treaties.
If you are navigating major projects within a Modern Treaty area, whether as a proponent or an Indigenous government, feel free to message me to continue the conversation.
The Modern Treaty Hub
In recent news:
The Sahtu Secretariat Incorporated, Gwich’in Tribal Council and Pehdzéh Kı̨ First Nation announced plans to sign a joint memorandum of understanding to advance the proposed Mackenzie Valley Highway, highlighting the role Indigenous governments could play in shaping major Arctic infrastructure and economic development (NationTalk).
The Our Land for the Future Trust announced its first $21.6 million in funding to Indigenous governments in the Northwest Territories to support conservation initiatives and Indigenous Guardian programs. The investments include support for three newly recognized Indigenous protected areas on Tłı̨chǫ lands covering roughly 22,500 square kilometres, about half of Tłı̨chǫ territory (The Narwhal).
Kitselas First Nation celebrated the opening of a new $24-million community centre on the Gitaus reserve near Terrace, B.C. The facility, more than 15 years in development, will host youth sports, cultural gatherings and community events, creating a dedicated space for recreation and intergenerational learning in the community (CBC News).
The chiefs of Tla'amin Nation, Homalco Nation, K'ómoks First Nation and Klahoose First Nation told MP Aaron Gunn to “chillax, bud” in a joint statement responding to his criticism of land acknowledgments, pushing back on claims that they threaten private property rights (Nanaimo News Bulletin).
Edmond Wright, a member of the core team that negotiated the 2000 Nisga’a Final Agreement, has passed away at age 80. Wright helped shape key governance and financial elements of the treaty and remained active in Nisga’a public service long after implementation (Terrace Standard).
Ottawa announced $14.3 million in funding for arts, heritage and Indigenous language initiatives across Yukon, including projects led by Yukon First Nations and programs aimed at strengthening language revitalization across the territory (Yukon News).
The Government of Canada and the Government of Northwest Territories signed a memorandum of understanding to explore ways of improving coordination across the territory’s resource regulatory system (Cabin Radio).
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