Common menu bar links
Evolution of Operation NANOOK
Operation NANOOK 07 took place in Iqaluit, Nunavut, the Baffin Island coast and the Hudson Strait from August 7 to 17, 2007. Operation NANOOK 07 included the simulation of a CAF response to a request from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) for assistance with a drug interdiction event, as well as a response from the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) for assistance with an oil spill-related environmental protection event. Approximately 600 CAF members, CCG personnel and RCMP members participated in the Operation.
Operation NANOOK 08 took place in Iqaluit, Nunavut, from August 19 to 26, 2008. It included exercise scenarios with simulated maritime emergencies, including the evacuation of a ship in distress and an oil spill. The exercises were designed to develop and refine the inter-agency relationships that underpin the whole-of-government approach to Arctic safety and security challenges.
Operation NANOOK 09 took place in the southeastern Baffin Island coastal area from August 6 to 28, 2009. It included participation from land, sea and air forces, as well as the CCG and Transport Canada. The operation consisted of three phases: sovereignty patrolling, a military exercise focusing on anti-submarine warfare, and a whole-of-government exercise that included over 15 departments and agencies from all levels.
Operation NANOOK 10 – which was conducted in Canada’s eastern and high arctic from August 6 to 26, 2010 – was the northernmost operation of the NANOOK series. It was also the first of the NANOOK operations to include international partners from the U.S. and Denmark. Operation NANOOK 10 included a sovereignty and presence patrolling exercise, and a whole-of-Government exercise focusing on environmental containment and remediation resulting from a simulated tanker fuel leak. The aim of the exercise was to train Canadian Rangers and community volunteers in tanker fuel spill response techniques, including clean-up. Operation NANOOK 10 included over 900 participants from the CAF.
Operation NANOOK 11 took place in the vicinity of Resolute Bay, Nunavut, from August 5 to 26, 2011, and consisted of two parts. The first, a sovereignty and presence patrolling exercise, was conducted in cooperation with the United States Coast Guard and the Royal Danish Navy. The second, a Canadian exercise that included simulated air disaster and maritime emergencies, demonstrated our country’s ability to respond to emergency situations in the North. The largest and northernmost Canadian Arctic military operation in history, Operation NANOOK 11 involved the participation of more than 1,100 CAF personnel and 180 members of the CCG.
As in previous years, this year’s Operation NANOOK will aim to provide a visible presence in the Arctic and demonstrate Canada’s ability to respond to situations and emergencies in the region. Operation NANOOK 12 is centred on two scenario-driven events in two separate locations in Canada's high North. The first involves the deployment of land and air forces to the Western Arctic to assist the RCMP in a security event in Tsiigehtchic, Northwest Territories. The second involves the deployment of CAF land, sea, air and special operations forces to the East to the Hudson Bay/Hudson Strait and Churchill, Manitoba, to intercept a vessel of interest.
