Canada’s Arctic Sovereignty & the Lomonosov Ridge

01 — Introduction

Why the Arctic Matters

The Arctic Ocean is no longer the frozen, inaccessible frontier it was for most of modern history. Accelerating ice melt is opening shipping routes that were once impassable, exposing seabed resources previously locked beneath permanent ice cover, and transforming a region once governed by geography into one governed by competing strategic interests.

The U.S. Geological Survey has estimated that the Arctic holds approximately 30 percent of the world’s undiscovered natural gas and 13 percent of its undiscovered oil. As these resources become more accessible, the question of who controls the Arctic seabed has moved from an academic exercise in geology to a central issue of 21st-century geopolitics.

At the heart of this competition lies the Lomonosov Ridge—an underwater mountain chain stretching approximately 1,800 kilometres from the continental shelves of Canada and Greenland, across the North Pole, to the Russian continental shelf. Three nations—Canada, Russia, and the Kingdom of Denmark (via Greenland)—each claim this ridge as a natural extension of their own landmass. Their overlapping submissions to the United Nations are currently under review, and the outcome will shape Arctic governance for generations.

The legal framework governing these claims is the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), specifically Article 76, which allows coastal states to extend their continental shelf beyond the standard 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone if they can demonstrate that the seabed is a natural geological prolongation of their landmass. Claims are submitted to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS), which evaluates the scientific evidence and issues recommendations.

02 — Canada’s Arctic Sovereignty

Canada’s Claim to the Arctic Shelf

The CLCS Submission

Canada made a partial submission to the CLCS regarding its Arctic Ocean continental shelf in May 2019, followed by an expanded addendum in December 2022. This addendum extended Canada’s claim along the full length of the Central Arctic Plateau, including the Lomonosov Ridge, the Alpha Ridge, and the Mendeleev Rise—an area that could encompass approximately 1 million square kilometres of additional seabed.

Canadian scientists have collected extensive geological and bathymetric data through expeditions spanning more than a decade, including geological samples from the Lomonosov Ridge, the Alpha Ridge, and the Nautilus Spur. Between 2025 and 2027, Canada plans additional expeditions to further validate the outer limits identified in the 2022 submission. The scientific case rests on demonstrating that these submarine features are natural prolongations of the Canadian Arctic archipelago, specifically Ellesmere Island.

Arctic Defence & Presence

Canada’s military presence in the Arctic is anchored by Joint Task Force North (JTFN), headquartered in Yellowknife with detachments in Iqaluit and Whitehorse. Approximately 5,640 Canadian Rangers maintain a presence in 205 remote and isolated communities, including over 1,500 Rangers in 60 Arctic communities. The Rangers serve as the eyes and ears of the Canadian Armed Forces in the North, conducting sovereignty patrols, search and rescue, and community support operations.

In March 2025, Prime Minister Carney announced $420 million in new funding to boost the Canadian Armed Forces’ presence in the Arctic. Budget 2025 included an $81.1 billion multi-year investment in national defence, with specific allocations for NORAD modernization and Arctic infrastructure. Canada had previously committed $38.6 billion over twenty years (announced in 2022) for NORAD modernization, including the development of an Arctic Over-the-Horizon Radar (A-OTHR) system to strengthen surveillance of Canada’s northern air and maritime approaches.

The government has also allocated $2.672 billion over twenty years for Northern Operational Support Hubs—multi-use infrastructure facilities designed to enable year-round military operations while also serving the needs of territorial governments, Indigenous peoples, and northern communities.

Inuit Nunangat & Indigenous Governance

Canada’s Arctic sovereignty is inseparable from the rights and governance structures of Indigenous peoples, particularly the Inuit who have inhabited the region for millennia. Inuit Nunangat—the Inuit homeland—encompasses four regions: Nunatsiavut (Labrador), Nunavik (northern Quebec), the territory of Nunavut, and the Inuvialuit Settlement Region (Northwest Territories). Analysts and policy experts increasingly emphasize that strengthening Arctic sovereignty requires genuine partnership with Inuit organizations on matters from resource development to search and rescue infrastructure, and that any credible Arctic strategy must be grounded in community-level engagement and self-determination.

03 — The Lomonosov Ridge

Competing Claims Beneath the North Pole

The Lomonosov Ridge is an undersea mountain range rising up to 3,700 metres from the Arctic Ocean floor. It runs from the continental shelf north of Ellesmere Island and Greenland, across the central Arctic basin and directly through the North Pole, to the continental margin of Siberia. Its geological character—specifically whether it is continental or oceanic crust, and to which landmass it is most closely connected—determines which nation can claim sovereign rights over the seabed resources it contains.

Three Overlapping Submissions

Timeline of Key Developments

04 — U.S. & Greenland

U.S. Strategic Interest in Greenland

The United States has maintained a military presence in Greenland since World War II. Pituffik Space Base—formerly known as Thule Air Base, renamed in 2023—is the northernmost U.S. military installation and serves as a critical node in North America’s missile early warning and space surveillance network. The base is home to the 12th Space Warning Squadron, which operates a ballistic missile warning system, and the 23rd Space Operations Squadron, which supports global satellite operations.

Greenland is also strategically positioned along the GIUK Gap (Greenland–Iceland–United Kingdom), a Cold War-era anti-submarine chokepoint that remains important for monitoring naval movements between the Arctic and the North Atlantic. The U.S. military’s presence operates under the 1951 Defense of Greenland Treaty between the United States and Denmark.

In 2019, President Trump publicly expressed interest in purchasing Greenland from Denmark, a proposal the Danish government dismissed. Following his return to office in January 2025, the administration reiterated its strategic interest in the island. Vice President Vance visited Pituffik Space Base in March 2025, stating that the United States must protect Greenland from both adversaries and neglect. Congressional momentum around the idea of a closer U.S.–Greenland relationship has grown since. Denmark, in response, announced significant new defence packages for Greenland in 2025, including billions for increased surveillance and situational awareness in Greenlandic waters.

The Lomonosov Ridge Connection

One dimension of U.S. interest in Greenland that receives less public attention is the continental shelf. Denmark’s 2014 CLCS submission—filed on behalf of the Kingdom of Denmark, including Greenland—claims the entirety of the Lomonosov Ridge as a geological extension of Greenland’s continental shelf. If the United States were to acquire or otherwise gain sovereign authority over Greenland, it could potentially inherit or leverage this existing CLCS submission.

This is significant because the United States is not a party to UNCLOS (the U.S. Senate has never ratified it), which limits its ability to file continental shelf claims through the CLCS process. Greenland would represent the sole means by which the U.S. could stake a claim to the Lomonosov Ridge and the resources beneath the central Arctic Ocean.

Note: This section presents geopolitical analysis based on publicly available sources. It does not represent advocacy for or against any territorial arrangement. Greenland’s future status is a matter for the people of Greenland, the Kingdom of Denmark, and the international community to determine.

05 — Author’s Viewpoint

What Canada Must Do

06 — Citizen Action

Letter Template for Your Member of Parliament

The following letter template is offered for Canadians who wish to write to their Member of Parliament about Arctic sovereignty. It is written from a citizen’s perspective and may be freely copied, adapted, and sent. You can find your MP at ourcommons.ca.

07 — Sources

Sources & References

The following publicly available sources were consulted in preparing this overview. Readers are encouraged to review the original materials for full context.