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Interview with Virginia Mearns, New Senior Arctic Official for Canada

October 23, 2025
Канада
Virginia Mearns was recently appointed Senior Arctic Official and Arctic Ambassador for Canada, where she brings extensive experience working with Inuit organizations and northern communities in Canada. Get to know Virginia in this Q&A where she shares her background, what she looks forward to in her role, the importance of ensuring Arctic communities remain at the forefront of Arctic discourse, and the Arctic experiences – both at home and on travel – that are most memorable to her.

What is your background, and how do you feel it has prepared you for your role as Senior Arctic Official?

My entire career has been based in Nunavut in a variety of capacities. I worked at Nunavut Tunngavik, the territorial Inuit organization and rights holder organization, for 11 years primarily in the social and cultural development policy realm. From there I held different positions within the Government of Nunavut department of Executive and Intergovernmental Affairs, where I engaged with Inuit organizations and the Government of Canada on a regular basis. In addition to that, I worked at Qikiqtani Inuit Association, one of our regional Inuit associations, where I had the opportunity to work bilaterally with Inuit of Greenland, and to pursue discussions and opportunities of shared priority between Inuit in our region and in Greenland.

Throughout my career, I've interacted with Inuit organizations from the regional level all the way up to the national level, including the Inuit Circumpolar Council, a Permanent Participant of the Arctic Council. I’ve benefited from those opportunities to look at the issues that face our communities from multiple angles.

As Senior Arctic Official, I’m based in Iqaluit in Nunavut, but I will have a presence in Ottawa as well.


© Ambassador Virginia Mearns

What elements of your work with the Arctic Council are you most looking forward to?

What I'm most looking forward to is connecting with northerners and Arctic Peoples from across the Arctic nations. I've had the privilege of being able to visit a lot of the Canadian north, and I'm really excited to be able to engage with our Indigenous communities here in Canada, but also with Indigenous communities in the other Arctic States as well. I think there's a lot that we can do by connecting and comparing our realities, and in sharing best practices and really strengthening and solidifying that relationship amongst our Peoples.

What are your priorities as Canada’s Senior Arctic Official?

It’s multi-faceted, having this unique portfolio as Senior Arctic Official and also Canada's Ambassador to the Arctic as highlighted in Canada’s Arctic Foreign Policy. It touches upon many facets of our reality and I'm really looking forward to taking the opportunity to integrate the human dimension into the Council's work. Not to say that the human dimension has not been there before, but because there’s such an interest and emphasis on activity in the Arctic, I feel a strong responsibility to ensure that the human component remains in the forefront of all of our discussions. Whether it is regarding economic development, cultural development, environmental protection – these are all components and discussions where we need to ensure our community members are in the forefront, because they're the first to be affected by the decisions and direction our work goes in.

What is one of your most memorable Arctic moments?

Living in Iqaluit and traveling to different communities, even within Canada, has always been an exciting opportunity for me. I very much look forward to continuing that. Also being on the land with my family. Some of my fondest childhood memories are camping with family, and that has continued into current day. Being able to take my children out on the land and having that connection, whether it's at our cabin or if it's for spring fishing, it's a very special opportunity that not many get to call a part of their normal day. So, traveling and also being at home on the land with my family, I would say, my two favorite components.

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