Auditor general finds aging icebreakers, aircraft hamper monitoring of Arctic waters

Canada's auditor general says the federal government doesn't have a good handle on what's going on in its Arctic waters.

In a report tabled Tuesday, Auditor General of Canada Karen Hogan said the agencies responsible for safety and security in the North don't have a clear picture of traffic in the region.

She said Transport Canada and the Canadian Coast Guard aren't ready for the challenges that will come as climate change opens those waters to increasing shipping and economic development.

Hogan said the inconsistent Canadian presence in Arctic waters opens them to unauthorized access, accidents, illegal fishing and marine pollution.

The audit covered the period from April 1, 2021 — March 31, 2022.

The organizations audited included Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the Canadian Coast Guard, Environment and Climate Change Canada, National Defence, and Transport Canada.

Public Services and Procurement Canada was also included for its support role in central purchasing and contracting for items such as vessels.

A delicate ecosystem

Average summer sea-ice coverage in the Canadian Arctic has dropped by about 40 per cent in the past 50 years, and from 1990 to 2019, the number of voyages in Canadian Arctic waters more than tripled, according to the report.

"While this opening of Arctic waters presents economic opportunities, it also puts at risk a delicate ecosystem, which Canada must safeguard," the report read.

"At the same time, increasing interest in the Arctic includes renewed interest in the region for strategic and military purposes, and Canada's decisions about surveillance of Arctic waters today may have long-term effects on our sovereignty." 

Hogan said there have been long-standing issues including poor surveillance and vessel tracking, ineffective information sharing and aging icebreakers and patrol aircraft.

Many of the same issues the report says were flagged back in 2011 by an Interdepartmental Marine Security Working Group.

"It's very disappointing after so many years there's been little moving forward in any strong way," said Pierre Leblanc, a Arctic security consultant and a former commander of the Canadian Forces' Northern Area from 1995 to 2000.

"I knew we were weak in a number of areas but when you do the aggregate of what's mentioned in the report, it is somewhat alarming. Basically it says that Canada doesn't really have a good understanding of what's going on in the Arctic." 

The report notes delays in procuring Arctic and offshore patrol ships, and aging icebreakers.

The icebreaker fleet includes six vessels between 35 and 53 years old. The federal government plans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars in the coming years to extend their service life. The first of six new icebreakers is expected to be delivered by 2030.

Hogan's report mentioned the Nanisivik Naval Facility on the northern tip of Baffin Island has done little to improve the situation.

The long-delayed facility is expected to be ready by 2025. The scope of the project has been scaled down over the years, and of note, the report says the facility will not be equipped to heat fuel tanks, reducing its period of operation to about four weeks per year.

When it comes to air assets, Transport Canada currently uses the Dash 7 aircraft to perform surveillance in the Arctic.

It operates out of Iqaluit where it has to stay either outdoors or in a rented hangar, if availability permits. The report says that limits the ability to perform maintenance and conduct extended operations in the Arctic into the late fall or winter.

A hangar for the plane was originally expected to be completed by 2022 to 2023 and cost $29.7 million. The project is now estimated to cost more than double that — $64.4 million — and be completed around 2024 to 2025.

Furthermore, the report says the agency has not developed a lifecycle replacement plan for the plane. 

Transport Canada is in the process of procuring a remotely piloted aircraft system, which is scheduled for delivery in early 2023. It's expected to operate mainly out of Iqaluit, but won't be able to until the hangar is complete. 

The report recommends to address delays in delivering replacement equipment, and that federal departments come up with contingency plans in case satellites, ships or aircraft cease to operate before they are replaced.

The report also flags what it described as weakness in satellite surveillance capabilities.

In 2019, three satellites were launched as part of the RADARSAT Constellation Mission. The satellites are expected to operate until 2026.

Agencies also rely on the RADARSAT-2 satellite, a predecessor of the constellation mission, which launched in 2007. It was designed to operate until 2015, but is still in use.

The report says the government acknowledges it will be another decade before the Canadian Space Agency will launch a successor, leaving a gap to fill.

It says National Defence has started a project to have its own satellite system, but it is not expected to become operational until 2035.

Leblanc says the best way to do surveillance is from space, something he says should be done daily.

"Once the satellites come to the end of their lives it's going to be a real issue."