The research hub, called CHARS for short, opened on Wednesday. The federal agency Polar Knowledge Canada (POLAR) will oversee the station, which will facilitate year-round Arctic research. “Today’s celebration represents a significant milestone for our community,” said Mayor Pamela Gross. (Nunatsiaq News)

Talking point: The station’s construction cost $188.6 million; its operating costs are about $7.1 million per year. CHARS aims to collaborate with the local Indigenous community on issues that impact them, like creating safe travel routes, monitoring plant and wildlife and dust control. The centre was announced by then-prime minister Stephen Harper in 2012, and was originally set to open on July 1, 2017. But it faced legal and administrative delays in allowing POLAR to be treated as a Crown corporation so it could oversee the station. That meant amending the Federal Real Property Act and transferring the ownership from Indigenous and Northern Affairs, a process that ended up taking over two years.