Arctic Coast Guard Forum

In light of Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, the Canadian Coast Guard has paused its participation in the Arctic Coast Guard Forum. We continue to believe there is great value in collaborating with other countries on Arctic maritime search and rescue and environmental response issues.

The Arctic Coast Guard Forum is an annual meeting established in 2015. It brings together the eight member states of the Arctic Council:

• Canada
• Denmark
• Finland
• Iceland
• Norway
• Russian Federation
• Sweden
• United States

The goal of this forum is to strengthen cooperation and coordination of coast guard activities between the eight member states. They meet to work together to help support and develop safe, secure, and environmentally responsible maritime activities in the Arctic.

It focuses on challenges and responsibilities in the Arctic, including:

• environmental response
• development of low impact shipping corridors
• engagement with Indigenous communities
• search and rescue exercises to practice operational abilities