When the Canadian Armed Forces needed a fully operational site in Resolute Bay, Nunavut, capable of housing 350 personnel for Operation Nanook-Nunakput, they turned to a contractor that's been doing this kind of work in the North for almost 40 years. ATCO Frontec had the site built, powered, watered and stocked in three weeks.

"Transforming a remote Arctic site into a fully operational base capable of supporting hundreds of military personnel in just three weeks is a remarkable accomplishment," said Jim Landon, president of ATCO Frontec. "The speed and complexity of this deployment underscores our team's expertise and commitment to supporting Canada's most important northern operations."

Why the rush

Operation Nanook-Nunakput, running until Sept. 25, is meant to boost Canada's northern presence, surveillance and readiness through partnerships with military, government, Indigenous and community organizations. Landon said the tight timeline wasn't unusual so much as it reflected a bigger shift: DND has dramatically increased both the scale and frequency of Nanook exercises, moving from roughly one a year to a near-continuous schedule.

"With this increased focus on Arctic sovereignty, DND is now running these 11 months out of 12," Landon said. The infrastructure to support that pace, permanent Northern Operational Support Hubs, isn't built yet.

"There's still quite a bit of procurement to go," he said. "So at the moment, this is: what can you do now, and do quite quickly. Contractor support is an excellent help to them for that."

Forty years of northern logistics

ATCO Frontec has operated in Canada's North for close to four decades, working in partnership with Inuit organizations to maintain the North Warning System and Nasittuq's Service Alert, and looking after Royal Canadian Air Force forward operating locations across the Arctic.

That track record, Landon said, is why DND comes calling when something needs to happen fast. Resolute Bay wasn't unfamiliar ground: ATCO already supports other government operations there.

Building the base meant moving roughly 30 flights and 125 tonnes of equipment, tents, generators, water and wastewater systems, into one of the most remote parts of the country.

"You've got to make sure that what you're moving there is right, and then you've got it on the right aircraft in the right order, so when it arrives you can start building things straight away," Landon said. "There's no running down to Home Depot for anything."

The company leaned on former military logisticians on staff who could anticipate what the client would need before being asked. "If you have a picture in your mind of what we're going to do, and then you have conversations with the client to confirm, is that what you want, yes or no, and if not, what is it, that's really helpful," Landon said.

Improvising in the field

Not everything went according to the original plan. DND needed refrigerated shipping containers that weren't part of the initial requirements, and anything too large for a C-17 simply couldn't get there. ATCO's team converted old sea cans into working reefers on the fly.

"There were some lessons in improvisation where that was required," Landon said. "But otherwise, it was really a confirmation that in logistics it's all about planning and good communication with the whole team."

The payoff showed up in the handover. Landon said the project manager on the ground had everything ready 24 hours ahead of schedule, and the commander of Joint Task Force North, who stayed overnight in one of the tents, told him directly he was pleased with what had been delivered.

What happens next

Some of the equipment used at the site has been purchased by DND and will be stored by ATCO for future exercises, rather than shipped home, feeding into the longer-term Northern Operational Support Hub concept: pre-positioned expeditionary equipment troops can fly in and use without rebuilding a camp from scratch each time.

Landon, who spent 28 years in the British Army before joining ATCO roughly a decade ago, sees contractor support as essential to sustaining that operational tempo without burning out military logistics personnel.

"You tend to run out of military logisticians quite quickly," he said. "This is where the role of contractors is really important in supporting these kinds of training exercises. Don't exhaust your military logisticians in doing every single exercise, contract it out, get that balance right."

No new deployments of this scale are confirmed yet, but Landon expects more are coming as DND works out where the next Northern Operational Support Hub should go.

"I think this is something we're going to see more of," he said. "Contractors like us are extremely well placed to support DND in that concept in the future."