Canada says Russia and China are ramping up spy efforts in Arctic region

The Dempster highway is seen from the window of a CH-147F Chinook helicopter near Inuvik, Northwest Territories. Photograph: Cole Burston/AFP/Getty Images

Canada’s domestic spy agency says Russia and China have a “significant intelligence interest” in Canada’s Arctic, and are targeting both the country’s government and its private sector.

In his annual speech on threats facing Canada, Dan Rogers, director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), flagged mounting concerns over hostile nations growing increasingly emboldened in the Arctic.