The Polar Continental Shelf :Project
Authors: Hobson George D. 
Published: March 2010

History and Formation of PCSP

The Polar Continental Shelf Project (PCSP) was established by the Canadian Government by means of a Cabinet Directive on April 5, 1958.

In April 1959, a seven-man advance party arrived at the Joint Arctic Weather Station on Ellef Ringnes Island at Isachsen to conduct exploratory work. These scientists hoped to gather enough information and experience by the end of June to return to Ottawa and map out a full-scale program for 1960 and subsequent years. Among the first party in 1959 were: Dr. Fred Roots, coordinator; Harvey Blandford, hydrographer; Frank Hunt, surveyor; Adam Kerr, hydro- grapher; Donald Smith, gravity observer; Bill Anderson, oceanographer; Michael Eaton, hydrographer; and Oscar Renaud, cook. That first party was supported by two aircraft, an Otter and a Beaver, on charter from McMurray Air Services Limited of Uranium City, Saskatchewan.

In 1957 and early 1958, several significant world developments had a bearing on the Canadian Arctic situation. The 1957 launch of Sputnik led to demands by the United States early in 1958 for intensified work in the scientifically interesting Canadian Arctic, if necessary through joint Canada/United States projects. In 1958, the American nuclear submarine Nautilus made the first trans Arctic cruise. This provided evidence of a new line of military thought and another reminder that Canada was neglecting polar research, and specifically the waters of the Canadian Archipelago.

Compilation in Ottawa of geological data collected in the Islands by Operation Franklin in 1955 pointed up the fact that oil might be present under the sea bed as well as under the Islands. Subsequently, by January of 1959, several millions of acres of land were permitted out to industry for petroleum exploration. Finally, the International Conference on the Law of the Sea, held in Geneva in 1958, adopted one resolution which stated that mineral and other resources underlying the Continental Shelf should be considered to be the property of the country claiming the coastline adjacent to the Shelf. Canada found herself in effect claiming ownership to resources beneath a continental shelf that had never been delineated by Canadians and the outline of which was only inferred from Russian maps. These and other factors evidently convinced the Canadian Government Cabinet that the far northern islands could become a great national asset, that Canada possibly needed a more definitive presence in the Islands and that perhaps scientific exploration as a national policy was the logical way to achieve this sovereignty. The formation of the Polar Continental Shelf Project would be ideal as it would take account of all chief concerns – military, economic, scientific and political. The Soviet Union was far ahead of Canada in charting the forbidding wastes of the sea ice in the Canadian Arctic. In fact, information published by Russian scientists was used by the Canadian expedition to formulate early programs. It was intended that coordinated attacks by scientists of many disciplines would reveal the potential as well as the natural resources of the Shelf.