Arctic a ‘vulnerable destination’ for foreign adversaries, CSIS warns 

Canada's spy agency warns that colliding global developments make the Arctic an 'attractive, strategic and vulnerable destination' for foreign adversaries.

Canada’s spy agency warns that colliding global developments make the Arctic an “attractive, strategic and vulnerable destination” for foreign adversaries seeking to establish a presence in Canada.

A newly released Canadian Security Intelligence Service assessment flags the environment, critical infrastructure, economic activity and geopolitics as converging factors making the region susceptible to threats from abroad.

It sees resource extraction projects, increasing ship traffic, the building of ports and possible militarization of the Arctic as some of the avenues nefarious actors could use to gain a foothold in the region.

Once established in the North, rivals could use these opportunities to “generate substantial influence and interference opportunities,” CSIS warns.

The Canadian Press used the Access to Information Act to obtain the CSIS brief, “Issues & Vulnerabilities in Canada’s Arctic,” produced last April as an elaborate infographic.

It is perhaps the most extensive public account to date of the spy service’s concerns about espionage and malign foreign influence in the Arctic.

Melting sea ice due to climate change likely will lead to more people in the Arctic, the opening of new shipping routes and fresh exploitation of mineral deposits, the brief says.

Natural resources, including oil and gas reserves, attract foreign investment, potentially threatening regional interests, CSIS warns.