Polar Continental Shelf Project (Canada) : Although the Arctic's economic and strategic value had long been recognized in the twentieth century, little information was available on the Far North, with the exception of the preliminary findings of 'Operation Franklin", an expedition undertaken by the Geological Survey of Canada in 1955 to gain scientific data about the North. Most of the information on the Arctic was based on studies conducted in a 1913-1918 Canadian Arctic Expedition, and on maps published in the United States and the Soviet Union.
The launch of the Sputnik in 1957 and the ensuing race to space triggered Canada's new scientific exploration policy in the Arctic. Shortly after Sputnik was launched, the United States asked Canada for Arctic gravitational data required for its space program, and Canada agreed to make the information available. Then, in 1958, the American submarine Nautilus completed the first under-ice crossing of the Arctic Ocean.
In the same year, the United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, held in Geneva, Switzerland, confirmed nations' rights to resources on their continental shelves as far as two hundred miles off shore. In order to assert Canadian sovereignty in the Arctic and to further its scientific investigation of the region, the Government of Canada established the Polar Continental Shelf Project on 5 April 1958 "to oversee hydrographic, oceanographic, geophysical and biological studies of the shelf." The first Polar Shelf field party commenced its research on 9 March 1959.
The Project was initially located in the Oceanography Division of the Department of Mines and Technical Surveys. In its formative years, the Director General of Scientific Services, Dr. W.E. Van Steenburgh, presided over the organization, and Dr. E. F. Roots was the Project's coordinator. In 1960, PCSP mounted its first full-scale, systematic survey and research program and established its first base at Resolute, Cornwallis Island. In 1964, Polar Shelf established a base at Mould Bay on Prince Patrick Island in the western Arctic, which was eventually relocated to Tuktoyaktuk in the Mackenzie Delta in 1968.
In 1966, the Department of Mines and Technical Surveys was reorganized and renamed the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources, and the Shelf Project was transferred to the Mines and Geosciences Sector.
In 1970, the Mines and Geosciences Sector was renamed the Science and Technology Sector, and the mandate of PCSP was broadened to include matters concerning the preservation of the environment. The Project took part in the Arctic Ice Dynamics Joint Experiment (AIDJEX), which was launched jointly by the United States and Canada in 1975 and sought to study the interaction between fields of motion in the atmosphere, the pack ice and the liquid ocean.
In 1984, an additional support facility was established on an ice island in the high Arctic, serving as a long-term floating camp for scientific parties (The research station was decommissioned in 1993.). In 1986, PCSP became strictly a logistics coordination agency and the last of its scientific staff returned to their host agencies. A reorganization of Energy, Mines and Resources in 1987 resulted in the Shelf Project being transferred to the newly formed Geological Survey of Canada Sector. In 1989, the PCSP commenced the Arctic Awareness program, which offered logistical support to Canadian artists and writers wishing to explore and experience the North.
On 25 June 1993, the Department of Natural Resources Canada was created by merging the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources and the Department of Forestry. PCSP remained under the administration of the Geological Survey of Canada Sector.
The Project established a Traditional Knowledge Program in 1994, providing logistics support to northern community programs involving elders and youth with a focus on preserving traditional aboriginal knowledge and skills and, in 1996, partnered with the Canadian Antarctic Research Program to establish the Canadian Arctic-Antarctic Research Program to encourage scientific collaboration among Canadian Arctic research scientists and their Antarctic counterparts.
In 1996-1997, PCSP became a part of the newly formed Earth Sciences Sector, along with Geological Survey of Canada and Geomatics Canada. In 1998, Polar Continental Shelf Project celebrated its 40th anniversary. It continues to provide support to approximately 800 scientists from Canadian federal and territorial government agencies, northern land claims resource co-management boards, northern communities, Canadian universities and research scientists from other countries involved in roughly 150 research programs throughout the Canadian Arctic.
