Research funding not keeping up with demand in Nunavut

Joël Bêty has been studying various bird species on Bylot Island, north of Pond Inlet, Nunavut, for more than 25 years — but this year is looking different from most. 

Usually, he and his team set up five camps stretched across about 500 square kilometres on Bylot Island. But increased logistical costs associated with the project will limit Bêty's work to two camps this season. 

His is one of several research projects in the territory to be affected by rising costs while funding remains stagnant. 

Bêty, a professor in the department of biology, chemistry and geography at the University of Quebec's Rimouski campus, relies on helicopters to access the remote sites, but he said higher fares have forced him to cut his travel in half. 

"I'll be covering a much smaller area for sampling, so that'll give me data that's not quite as good ... and it'll also cut into the longer-term tracking we're trying to do over a large area," he said.

"When we're trying to understand the impacts of climate change … it's really important to do that long-term tracking."

Vital logistical support

Dominique Berteaux is another professor in the same department who also carries out research on Bylot Island. His work focuses on various predator species, including lemmings. 

Like Bêty and Berteaux, many researchers who carry out their work in Nunavut rely on Natural Resources Canada's Polar Continental Shelf Program for support. Its Arctic logistics hub, set up in Resolute Bay, helps pair researchers with specialized equipment, helicopters and twin-engine aircraft. 

Berteaux said the program's funding to cover the costs of helicopter flying hours is about $50,000 less than it was in 2024. While he was able to cover the gap through other funding sources, he said he's concerned that those kinds of budget restraints will affect Arctic research overall.

"There's lots of research in the North that can't happen without the support from the Polar Continental Shelf Program," he said. 

Both researchers agree that the program's funding hasn't kept up with inflation in recent years. 

In an email, Maria Ladouceur, a communications adviser with Natural Resources Canada, said the federal government allocated $49 million over five years to the program in its 2024 budget, and then "$10 million of ongoing funding after 2029-2030."

"Despite consistent funding, demand for the services of [the Polar Continental Shelf Program] often exceeds available resources, particularly considering the reality that operating in the North is more costly than elsewhere," reads Ladouceur's email. 

"The [program] remains committed to delivering safe, effective and equitable services, while also addressing essentially operational requirements to ensure the long-term sustainability of its services."

More projects, less funding 

A 2023 report by Canada's chief science adviser, Mona Nemer, says "northern research alone could increase eightfold by 2040, requiring significant growth in logistical capacity." 

Bêty is concerned that will result in less funds allocated to each project. 

"If you increase the competition between researchers, obviously there's going to be a smaller amount for each one," Bêty said. 

Philippe Archambault, science director for ArcticNet, said his organization already can't fund as many projects as it used to. 

Of the 72 proposals it received this year, only 22 received funding, about 31 per cent. According to Archambault, 10 years ago that number would have been closer to 43 per cent. 

In an effort to try and spread the funding to more projects, the organization is also more stringent on what it'll put money behind, he explained. 

The trend, he said, is due to stagnant funding over the past few years that doesn't take into account increased costs of carrying out the research. 

"The fuel, any airfare — so when you take the plane, it's more expensive," he said. "When you go and stay in a community … all these prices have increased. So all the equipment, everything increased."

In 2019, ArcticNet received $32.5 million over five years from the federal government through its Networks of Centres of Excellence initiative. The organization will receive that same amount — this time from Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada — over 2024-29. 

Negative effects on relations with Inuit communities

Stagnant funding is also affecting how researchers engage Inuit communities, said Archambault. 

"Some projects decrease the number of days in the Arctic. They also sometimes decide not to do any type of consultation, or not as long as usual," he said. "So they go to the North, do the consultation and try to do the field work right away, which is not the right way of doing it with our Indigenous partners. 

"The lack of funding will definitely bring us back to some extent," he added.

Archambault said funding needs to keep up with costs to ensure researchers can keep building relationships with communities and that they are involved in developing projects.