There are 70 projects funded under the Northern Contaminants Program for the 2020-2021 year, with allocated funding support of roughly $4.6 million. These projects were subject to a comprehensive technical, peer, and northern social/cultural review process. This process ensures that each project supports the priorities and objectives of the Northern Contaminants Program, as outlined in the NCP blueprints and annual call for proposals. Consultation with northern community authorities and/or Indigenous organizations is required for all projects involving field work in the North and/or analyses of samples.
- Human Health
- Community-Based Monitoring and Research
- Environmental Monitoring and Research
- Communications, Capacity and Outreach
- Program Coordination and Indigenous Partnerships
| Project Title | Project Leader(s) | Funding Awarded |
| Hexachlorobenzene Analysis in Old Crow Traditional Foods | Brian Laird (University of Waterloo) | $96,564 |
| Informing and Supporting Integrated Action on Contaminants, Nutrients and Food Security for Pregnant Women and All Nunavimmiut | Mélanie Lemire and Pierre Ayotte (Université Laval) and Chris Furgal (Trent University) | $189,980 |
| Selenoneine Protection Against Methylmercury Toxicity: A Potential Benefit of Beluga Maktaaq Consumption for Inuit Health | Pierre Ayotte, Mélanie Lemire and Paul De Koninck (Université Laval) | $220,892 |
| Investigating Lead Exposures, Risks, and Communication Strategies in the Sahtú Region, NWT | Kelly Skinner (University of Waterloo) | $98,733 |
| Country Foods for Good Health: Developing a Country Food Database for the Inuvialuit Settlement Region | Brian Laird, Kelly Skinner and Sonja Ostertag (University of Waterloo) | $197,800 |
Total Funding Awarded to Human Health projects: $803,969
| Project Title | Project Leader(s) | Funding Awarded |
| Understanding Fish Mercury Concentrations in Dehcho Lakes | Mike Low (Dehcho First Nations) and Heidi Swanson (University of Waterloo) | $33,660 |
| Community-Based Monitoring of Arctic Char in Nunatsiavut: Increasing Capacity, Building Knowledge | Rodd Laing (Nunatsiavut Government) Derek Muir and Jane Kirk (Environment and Climate Change Canada) | $6,140 |
| Contaminants in Traditional Foods of the Na-Cho Nyäk Dun First Nation | Joel Potié (First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun) | $29,291 |
| Tch Aquatic Ecosystem Monitoring Program (TAEMP) | Michael Birlea (Tch Government) | $47,370 |
| Expanding Community-Based Monitoring of Contaminants Concentrations in Marine Country Food Used by Mittimatalingmiut: Science and Local Knowledge Assessing the Risks to Human Health in Pond Inlet | James Simonee (Community-Based Researcher in Pond Inlet) | $6,900 |
| Mobilizing Inuit Knowledge and Land Use Observations to Assess Ecosystem Trends and Processes Affecting Contaminants | Lucassie Arragutainaq (Sanikiluaq Hunters & Trappers Association) | $39,273 |
| TRTFN Traditional Foods Contaminant Monitoring Program | Anna Schmidt (Taku River Tlingit First Nation) | $19,228 |
| Nunalinni kamatsianik palastikkinik igitauKattatunik Nunatsiavummi / Community-Based Monitoring of Plastic Pollution in Nunatsiavut | Liz Pijogge (Nunatsiavut Government) and Max Liboiron (Memorial University) | $32,626 |
| Sources of Methylmercury, Poly- and Perfluoroalkyl Substances, and Polychlorinated Biphenyls to Ringed Seal Food Webs of Lake Melville, Northern Labrador | Jane Kirk and Sarah Roberts (Environment and Climate Change Canada), Liz Pijogge (Nunatsiavut Government) | $34,410 |
| Contaminants in the Carcross Tagish First Nation Traditional Territory | Coralee Johns (Carcross/Tagish First Nation) | $45,625 |
| Community-Based Monitoring of Contaminants: Concentration in Marine and Aquatic Country Food in Pangnirtung, Taloyoak, and Qamani’tuaq: Science and Local Knowledge Addressing the Risks to Human Health | Maggie Kilabuk (Government of Nunavut), Jimmy Oleekatalik and Carmen Ikuutak (Taloyoak HTO), Vincent L'Hérault (ARCTIConnexion) | $69,105 |
| Assessment of Mercury Concentrations and Presence of Microplastics in Sea-Run Arctic Char Harvested by the Community of Resolute Bay (Cornwallis Island, NU) | Samantha Burke (University of Guelph), Debbie Iqaluk (Resolute Bay), Derek Muir (Environment and Climate Change Canada) | $17,133 |
Total Funding Awarded to Community-Based Monitoring and Research projects: $363,628
| Project Title | Project Leader(s) | Funding Awarded |
| Northern Contaminants Air Monitoring: Organic Pollutant Measurements | Hayley Hung (Environment and Climate Change Canada) | $153,497 |
| Air Measurements of Mercury at Alert, Nunavut and Little Fox Lake, Yukon, Mercury in the Air in Nunavut and Yukon | Alexandra Steffen (Environment and Climate Change Canada) | $122,300 |
| Passive Air Sampling Network for Organic Pollutants and Mercury | Hayley Hung and Alexandra Steffen (Environment and Climate Change Canada) | $33,883 |
| Temporal Trends of Persistent Organic Pollutants and Metals in Ringed Seals from the Canadian Arctic | Magali Houde, Derek Muir and Steve Ferguson (Environment and Climate Change Canada) | $57,020 |
| Temporal and Spatial Trends of Legacy and New Organic and Metal/Elemental Contaminants in Canadian Polar Bears | Robert Letcher (Environment and Climate Change Canada), Markus Dyck (Government of Nunavut) | $33,480 |
| Assessing Legacy and Emerging Contaminants in Canadian Arctic Air and Water Bodies as an Entry Point into the Arctic Food Chain | Liisa M. Jantunen (Environment and Climate Change Canada) | $29,100 |
| Temporal Trends of Mercury and Selected Halogenated Organic Compounds in Three Beluga Populations Landed Near Hendrickson Island NT, Sanikiluaq NU and Pangnirtung NU | Lisa Loseto, Steven Ferguson and Cortney Watt (Fisheries and Oceans Canada) | $62,845 |
| Temporal Trends of Contaminants in Arctic Seabird Eggs | Philippe Thomas (Environment and Climate Change Canada) | $103,650 |
| Temporal Trends and Spatial Variations of Mercury in Sea-Run Arctic Char and Other Fish from Cambridge Bay, Nunavut | Marlene S. Evans (Environment and Climate Change Canada) | $13,600 |
| Temporal Trends of Persistent Organic Pollutants and Mercury in Landlocked Char in the High Arctic | Jane Kirk and Derek Muir, (Environment and Climate Change Canada), Günter Köck (Institute for Interdisciplinary Mountain Studies ÖAW-IGF) | $37,115 |
| Spatial and Long-Term Trends in Persistent Organic Contaminants and Metals in Lake Trout and Burbot from the Northwest Territories | Marlene S. Evans (Environment and Climate Change Canada) | $32,750 |
| Temporal Trend Studies of Trace Metals and Halogenated Organic Contaminants (HOCs), Including New and Emerging Persistent Compounds, in Mackenzie River Burbot, Fort Good Hope, NWT | Gary Stern and Paloma Carvalho (University of Manitoba) | $14,156 |
| Temporal Trends in Contaminants in Yukon Lake Trout | Mary Gamberg (Gamberg Consulting) | $55,551 |
| Caribou Contaminant Monitoring Program | Mary Gamberg (Gamberg Consulting), Jeremy Brammer (National Wildlife Research Center) | $82,690 |
| Community Based Seawater Monitoring for Organic Contaminants and Mercury in the Canadian Arctic | Jane Kirk, Amila De Silva, Derek Muir and Amber Gleason (Environment and Climate Change Canada) | $33,200 |
| Overwintering Ecotoxicology of Arctic Seabirds and Adaptive Responses to Climate Change | Kyle Elliott (McGill University), Kim Fernie (Environment and Climate Change Canada) | $40,300 |
| Microplastics Contamination in Sediment, Water, Snow/Ice, Fish and Seals of the Canadian Arctic | Patricia Corcoran (University of Western Ontario), Miriam Diamond (University of Toronto) Liisa M. Jantunen (Environment and Climate Change Canada) | $106,190 |
| Contaminants in Birds Consumed in Nunavut: Combining Historical Data with New Measurements in the North Baffin Region | Pierre Legagneux (Université Laval) | $28,025 |
| Occurrence of Plastic Stabilizers in Fish, Seabirds, and Marine Mammals from Nunavut and Northwest Territories | Zhe Lu (Université du Québec à Rimouski) Jennifer Provencher (Environment and Climate Change Canada) | $31,250 |
| Aerodynamic Characterization of Microplastics for Predicting Long-Range Atmospheric Transport to the Arctic Region and the Assessment of Sampling Methods | Mark D. Gordon and Ronald E. Hanson (York University), Liisa M. Jantunen (Environment and Climate Change Canada) | $52,899 |
| Retrospective Assessment of Plastic Additives in Eggs from Seabirds Breeding at Prince Leopold Island, Nunavut from 1975 to 2019 | Jennifer Provencher (Environment and Climate Change Canada), Zhe Lu (Université du Québec à Rimouski) | $45,000 |
| Beluga (Qilalukkaq) Population Health: A Comparative Approach to Define Impacts of Contaminants and Climate Change Using Omics | Lisa Loseto (Fisheries and Oceans Canada), Marie Noel and Adam Warner (Ocean Wise) | $39,500 |
| Empowering Youth for Research and Monitoring of Plastic Pollution in the Arctic: A Community-Focused Research and Mentorship Initiative in the Kitikmeot | Eric Solomon and Anna Posacka (Ocean Wise) | $172,179 |
| Assessing Microplastics and Microfibres in Ringed Seal Stomachs from the Amundsen Gulf Region (ISR), NWT | Stephen Insley (Wildlife Conservation Society Canada), Jennifer Provencher (Environment and Climate Change Canada) | $16,043 |
| Investigating Microplastics and Associated Chemical Contaminants in Arctic Char and their Coastal and Freshwater Habitats Near Cambridge Bay, Nunavut: A Multi-Year Effort to Understand the Exposure of Multiple Anthropogenic Stressors in a Critical Northern Species | Chelsea Rochman and Bonnie Hamilton (University of Toronto), Jennifer Provencher (Environment and Climate Change Canada) | $36,111 |
| An Assessment of Plastic Ingestion by Polar Bears Across Nunavut and Northwest Territories Using Hunter-Collected Scat Samples | Jennifer Provencher (Environment and Climate Change Canada), Diane Orihel (Queen’s University) | $38,100 |
| Microplastics, Perfluorinated Substances (PFASs) and Organophosphate Esters (OPEs) Pathways to the Canadian Arctic Lakes in Yukon and Nunavut via the Snow Deposition | Zhe Lu (Université du Québec à Rimouski), Amila De Silva (Environment and Climate Change Canada) | $25,365 |
| Assessing Health Effects of Priority Contaminants in Ringed Seals in Northern Labrador: Influence of a Changing Climate | Tanya Brown (Fisheries and Oceans Canada); Liz Pijogge and Joey Angnatok (Nunatsiavut Government) | $13,400 |
| Microplastic Concentration, Transport, and Fate in Great Slave Lake and the Mackenzie River to the Southern Beaufort Sea, Northwest Territories | Jesse Vermaire (Carleton University), Jennifer Provencher (Environment and Climate Change Canada) | $23,403 |
| Seabirds as Indicators of Plastic Pollution Contributing to Pan-Arctic Monitoring of Litter and Microplastics | Jennifer Provencher (Environment and Climate Change Canada), Mark Mallory (Acadia University) | $22,540 |
| Alert 2022 – Investigating the Impacts of Climate and Sea Ice Change on Contaminants in Arctic Air and Water | Alexandra Steffen, Liisa M. Jantunen and Hayley Hung (Environment and Climate Change Canada) | $25,500 |
| Developing Tools for Monitoring, and Assessing Impacts of Heavy Metals and Hexachlorobenzene in Sympatric Declining Muskox and Caribou Populations in Nunavut and NWT | Susan Kutz (University of Calgary) | $30,444 |
Total Funding Awarded to Environmental Monitoring and Research projects: $1,611,086
| Project Title | Project Leader(s) | Funding Awarded |
| NWT Regional Contaminants Committee | Emma Pike (Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada), Tim Heron (Northwest Territories Métis Nation), Kendra Tingmiak (Inuvialuit Regional Corporation) | $136,619 |
| Nunavut Environmental Contaminants Committee (NECC) | Selma Al-Soweydawi (Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada), Jean Allen (Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated) | $51,795 |
| Nunavik Nutrition and Health Committee (NNHC): Coordinating, Learning and Communicating on Contaminants Research in Nunavik | Kitty Gordon and Marie Rochette (Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services), Lucy Grey (Kativik Regional Government) | $125,028 |
| Northern Contaminants Researcher | Liz Pijogge (Nunatsiavut Government) | $50,454 |
| Coordination, Participation and Communication: Evolving Inuit Research Advisor Responsibilities in Nunatsiavut for the Benefit of Inuit and their Communities | Carla Pamak (Nunatsiavut Government) | $38,813 |
| An Inuit Research Advisor (IRA) for the Inuvialuit Settlement Region (ISR) | Kendra Tingmiak (Inuvialuit Regional Corporation) | $63,250 |
| Nunavik Inuit Research Advisor: Environmental, Health and Climate Change Research in Nunavik | Markusi Qisiiq and Michael Barrett (Kativik Regional Government) | $65,375 |
| Research Advisor for Nunavut | Tina DeCouto and Jean Allen (Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated) | $40,250 |
| Contaminants Workshop at Yellowknife for the Dene Regions | Trevor Teed, Roy Jr. Erasmus, and Sam Bullock (Dene Nation) | $75,000 |
| Beluga Summit II: Sharing Knowledge About Beluga Whales in the ISR | Jen Lam (Joint Secretariat – Inuvialuit Regional Corporation), Lisa Loseto (Fisheries and Oceans Canada) | $30,000 |
Total Funding Awarded to Communications, Capacity and Outreach projects: $676,584
| Project Title | Project Leader(s) | Funding Awarded |
| Coordination and Administration of the Northern Contaminants Program | Sarah Kalhok Bourque (Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada) | -- |
| NCP and AMAP Quality Assurance/Quality Control Interlaboratory Study | Harold Malle (Environment and Climate Change Canada) | $100,000 |
| Data Management Support to the NCP from the Canadian Cryospheric Information Network/Polar Data Catalogue | Gregory Vey (University of Waterloo) | $39,388 |
| The NCP Publications Database: Making Northern Contaminants Program Publications More Accessible | Shannon Christoffersen (Arctic Institute of North America) | $40,308 |
| NCP Secretariat: Operational Support and Coordination for the NCP | Sarah Kalhok Bourque (Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada) | $375,000 |
| ArcticNet 2020 Arctic Change International Conference (AC2020) | Christine Barnard (Université Laval) | $10,000 |
| TOTAL | $565,000 | |
| Facilitation of International Action Related to the Long-range Transport of Contaminants into the Arctic | Sarah Kalhok Bourque (Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada) | -- |
| Canadian Support for the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme | Rolf Rødven and Simon Wilson (AMAP Secretariat) | $160,000 |
| Global Atmospheric Passive Sampling (GAPS) Network in Support of Global Monitoring Plan (Effective Evaluation) of the Stockholm Convention on POPs | Tom Harner (Environment and Climate Change Canada) | $12,000 |
| TOTAL | $172,000 | |
| Council of Yukon First Nations (CYFN) Participatory Support in the Northern Contaminants Program | Merran Smith and Ed Schultz (Council of Yukon First Nations) | $37,375 |
| Dene Nation Participation in the Northern Contaminants Program | Trevor Teed (Dene Nation) | $41,227 |
| Inuit Tapiirit Kanatami (ITK) National Coordination | Eric Loring (Inuit Tapiirit Kanatami) | $163,300 |
| Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) Canada’s Activities Under the Northern Contaminants Program (NCP) | Eva Kruemmel (Inuit Circumpolar Council) | $178,020 |
Total Funding Awarded to Program Coordination and Indigenous Partnerships projects: $1,157,000