Infrastructure in the Canadian Arctic is being affected by climate change impacts like permafrost thaw, coastal erosion, and changing temperatures and precipitation patterns. 

With this in mind, the Standards Council of Canada established the Northern Infrastructure Standardization Initiative (NISI), which supports the development of infrastructure standards that are specific to infrastructure in the north.

To date, standards have been developed to support community infrastructure (e.g., geotechnical site investigations, planning and maintaining community drainage systems, mitigating permafrost degradation), and mitigate against extreme weather challenges (high winds, snow drifting, erosion).

All of these standards are free for the first five years after initial publication. For more information, visit this website.