MASS 2026 to focus on Arctic, High North Challenges
Clearance Divers from Fleet Diving Unit Pacific and port inspection divers from the Royal Canadian Navy conduct mine countermeasure missions on the ocean floor during Exercise ARCTIC EDGE 2022.
Image courtesy Canadian Armed Forces photo by Master Sailor Dan Bard Canadian Forces Combat Camera. Copyright All rights reserved by RCN / MR
Arctic and Offshore Patrol Vessel HMCS William Hall (AOPV 433) arrives in Pond Inlet, Nunavut, during Operation NANOOK-NUNAKPUT 2025. Canada’s Navy and Coast Guard have vast areas to patrol in the challenging Arctic and high north environment.
Image courtesy Royal Canadian Navy; Copyright All rights reserved by RCN / MR
MASS and Littoral OpTech conferences converge in Atlantic Canada
The 13th annual Maritime & Arctic Security & Safety Conference (MASS), hosted by the Atlantic Canada Aerospace & Defence Association (ACADA), and presented by Saab Canada, Inc., will be held June 14-16 at the Convention Centre in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador.
ACADA represents Atlantic Canada’s aerospace and defence industry and promotes the region as a globally recognized hub of aerospace and defence excellence.
“MASS brings together industry innovators, government and military leaders, with strong representation from northern leaders” said Victoria Belbin, ACADA President and CEO. “This ensures northern perspectives, priorities and expertise are front and center. Together, these leaders explore emerging threats and the cutting edge solutions being developed in response.”
While there are other maritime security conferences, Belbin said MASS is unique. “We don’t see our event as competing with other defense and security conferences,” she said. “We are focusing our examination on the unique challenges and opportunities in the maritime environment and the Arctic and high north.”
AC-ADA President and CEO Victoria Belbin.
Combined Conference
The Littoral OpTech Workshop is being held as part of MASS this year.
“Bringing the Littoral OpTech series into MASS 2026 is a partnership that makes sense,” Belbin said. “Saab’s longstanding role in supporting OpTech workshops and global littoral research - most notably through its collaboration in past OpTech events across regions such as Crete, Sweden, and the broader Baltic Sea - is a natural alignment.”
Retired Swedish Navy Capt. Bo Wallander has chaired all of the Littoral OpTech workshops since the first one in 2013. The workshops in Poland, Finland and Sweden have focused on the Baltic Sea. The workshop in Tokyo, Japan looked at the South China Sea; the event held in Cartagena, Colombia, examined the Caribbean; and the conference at Souda Bay, Crete, Greece, emphasized the challenges in the Eastern mediterranean. The last time the conference was held in Canada was Littoral OpTech North, held in Halifax in 2018, which examined challenges and opportunities in the Arctic and extreme latitudes. Two colloquiums on littoral operations were also held in Monterey, Calif.
“We bring together key partners with advanced technical, policy and operational expertise to explore and identify technologies and concepts that will enable effective operations in the littoral.,” Wallander said.
Wallander defines littoral environments as where the land meets the sea “These regions are characterized by constrained waters, dense maritime activity, and demanding, complex multi‑domain operational challenges. Those challenges are compounded in the Arctic,” he said.Participation in previous iterations of the OpTech workshops have been by invitation only, Wallander said. “Because we’ve integrated our program into MASS this year, it’s open to everyone.”
The High North
Canada’s “high north” includes more than 36,000 islands surrounded by the Arctic Ocean. Because there is more open water in the Arctic than in decades past, there more commercial, military and pleasure boat traffic. But, despite the overall warming of the Arctic, ice, heavy seas and extreme cold temperatures make maritime presence problematic.
The Canadian Coast Guard is procuring new icebreakers from Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyards and Chantier Davie in Levis, Quebec; and recently started a new program for up to six Mid-Shore Multi-Mission Vessels (MSMMs). The Royal Canadian Navy has commissioned five of its six Harry DeWolf-class Arctic and Offshore Patrol Vessels (AOPVs), with the sixth has been delivered and will commission this year. The Canadian Coast is also procuring its own variant of the AOPV, with one launched and awaiting sea trials and the other under construction at Irving Shipbuilding’s Halifax Shipyard.
The conference will feature themed panels, including Arctic opportunities and northern partnerships; regional capabilities for Arctic and maritime security; multi-domain operations in the Arctic Environment; partnership as capability in Arctic security; and autonomous (uncrewed) systems in the high north.”
Retired Swedish Navy Captain Bo Wallander.
Photo by Warren Eddge, MAST (Maritime Systems and Technologies) Conferences and Exhibitions
International Showcase
Belbin said the international event showcases how Canadian companies are “advancing safety, security, and resilience at home and abroad through world class technologies, services, and research – helping shape a safer and more secure future for Canada, North America, and the global community.”
According to Belbin, MASS has firmly established itself as the premier forum for addressing the complex, multi domain defence challenges facing northern and maritime regions.
Belbin said that by combining MASS 2026 with Littoral OpTech unites two powerful platforms dedicated to advancing maritime security, operational excellence, and technological innovation.
More than 250 people have already registered. “We’re expecting more than 400” she said.
