High North News - English

"Norway and Canada have a close relationship and have much in common. In a time of increasing geopolitical unrest, it is important to strengthen trade policy cooperation. Canada offers good opportunities for Norwegian companies, and Norway is also an attractive country for Canadian investments. Closer trade cooperation will be good for both countries," says the Norwegian Minister of Trade and Industry Cecilie Myrseth in a press release.

Norway and the three other EFTA countries, Switzerland, Iceland, and Liechtenstein, have a trade agreement with Canada. The agreement dates from 2008 and mainly covers trade in industrial goods, fish and seafood.

"Norway believes it is time to modernize and update the free trade agreement between the EFTA countries and Canada. We believe the agreement should be expanded to also apply to trade in services, business establishment and public procurement, among other things. It is positive that the EFTA countries and Canada are planning a meeting during the first half of 2026 for further negotiations on this," says Myrseth.

On January 1st, 2026, 2,512 people lived in Longyearbyen and Ny-Ålesund, and 392 people lived in Barentsburg and Pyramiden. The Svalbard population is characterized by a lot of immigration and emigration, and generally short residence times.

At the same time, the archipelago is experiencing increasing diversity of citizenship. At the turn of the year, 66 distinct citizenships were represented among the population.

This is reported by Statistics Norway.

The residence rate in Svalbard remains low. Of all residents of Longyearbyen and Ny-Ålesund at the beginning of 2025, just under 80 percent were still living there one year later. By comparison, the average population turnover in mainland municipalities was around 5 percent in the same period. This shows that a significant proportion of the population in Svalbard changes every year.

The Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Anita Anand, said NATO must turn its focus to the North at a major defence and security conference in Ottawa on Wednesday.

This was reported by CBC.

"Last August, I raised the point about ensuring that NATO has efforts that are geared towards Arctic security and protection, and my foreign minister colleagues around that table, the Nordic Five, agreed with me wholeheartedly," she said.

The Nordic Five includes Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Finland and Sweden.

Anand said Canada wants a NATO Arctic strategy that is more comprehensive than the Arctic Sentry mission launched earlier this year, and that includes a permanent presence in the region.

She said she planned to discuss the topic with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte later in the day.

On Monday, Greenland and Canada signed a letter of intent on the strengthened cooperation on critical minerals and energy.

The agreement has strategic and economic significance for both parties, writes Greenland's government, Naalakkersuisut.

"The cooperation will lead to a better understanding of our natural resources and increased economic activity. Lately, Greenland has been the subject of international attention. This agreement cements the importance of strong alliances and partnerships," says Naaja Nathanielsen (IA), Greenland's Naalakkersuisoq (minister) of Industry, Raw Materials, Mining, Energy, Law Enforcement and Equality.

On Wednesday, Geir Håvard Hanssen was presented as the new regional director of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) Arctic, according to NRK. He will succeed Sigrid Ina Simonsen, who resigned in February.

Hanssen is now head of renewable development at Troms Kraft, and chairman of the board of the Troms Chamber of Commerce.

He has previously worked as a strategic advisor at the consultancy Ledelse i Nord, and has served as the head of communications at the Norwegian Seafood Council and Sparebank 1 Nord-Norge.

He will take up his position as regional director by September 1st, 2026.

On Wednesday, a delegation from the Canadian parliament, led by Speaker Francis Scarpaleggia, visited Norway.

This was reported by the Norwegian parliament, which is hosting the visit.

The Canadian delegation's agenda includes a number of political meetings, such as with the parliament president (speaker), as well as members of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence and the delegation for Arctic parliamentarian cooperation.

"Canada and Norway share democratic values, have historical ties and are close allies. Our relationship becomes increasingly important in these uncertain times. As Arctic coastal states, we see the need for closer cooperation in the North," says the Norwegian parliament president Masud Gharahkhani (Labor).

The Norwegian Armed Forces have appointed Brigadier Christian Øverli as its new Chief of Communications. This was announced in a press release on Monday.

Øverli previously held the position of Chief of the Royal Norwegian Air Force Academy, a role he has held for the past year and a half. He has previous experience from communications work in the Norwegian Armed Forces and the Ministry of Defense.

According to the press release, Øverli started in the position on Monday, March 2nd, and temporarily takes over from Brigadier Eystein Kvarving.

Kvarving will take on a project position where he will work on the long-term and strategic military cooperation between Ukraine and Norway from the Norwegian Defence University College.

The Norwegian coastal boats' seasonal cod (skrei) fishing reached a preliminary peak this year last week, reports Norges Råfisklag is a Norwegian sales organization.

During the week, about 6,600 tons were delivered at a value of NOK 438 million.

The Sales Association reports that fishing has also moved south along the coast, with increased deliveries in Troms, Vesterålen and Lofoten.

Several boats have also finished with this year's cod quota.

Bodø/Glimt is to meet the portuguese team Sporting in the Champions League Round of 16.

The Arctic football team from Bodø, Northern Norway, advanced in the Champions League after an aggregate result of 5-2 against Inter Milan.

The first game in the Round of 16 will be played at Aspmyra Stadium in Bodø on the 11th of March. The second match is to be played in Lisboa on March 17th.

At the end of February, there were 2,072 fully unemployed people in Nordland. This represents 1.7 percent of the workforce. In addition to the fully unemployed, there were 601 job seekers on benefits and 1,006 partially unemployed job seekers. This brings Nordland to a total of 3,679 job seekers, which represents 3 percent of the workforce, NAV reports.