Residents and visitors in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, can go inside the Canadian High Arctic Research Station through a new public tour program. The federal government facility is moving away from being a restricted space for scientists to become a hub where the community can see how research is done.
About one-third of the Main Research Building is now open to the public. This includes a teaching lab, a multi-purpose room, and a café where locals and researchers can meet.
People can book their visits through a new digital portal on the station’s website. Tours that used to happen only on Friday afternoons are now available several times a week to make it easier for people to attend.
Polar Knowledge Canada, the agency that runs the station, says the goal is to share Arctic science and traditional knowledge. The facility was first announced in 2010 and has been fully operational since 2019, but public access was limited during the pandemic.
The station sits on the plateau overlooking the community and cost more than $200 million to build. By opening the doors, officials hope to show how local knowledge and modern science work together to study climate change.
