Supply and demand for the Eastern Canadian Arctic Sealift

The annual sealift of cargo to the Canadian Arctic has long been an essential part of the livelihood of Inuit communities. Over the past two decades, many structural changes were brought to this service and the demand has grown substantially. This paper aims to provide a better understanding of these changes by analysing demand and supply for Eastern Canadian Arctic sealift services. This analysis is based on Canadian Coast Guard vessel movement data and Statistics Canada port traffic data. It reveals that between 1987 and 2010, continuous and extreme variations in demand made it quite difficult for ship operators to adjust carrying capacity and optimise productivity. Yet, the recent industrial and population growth in the region has enabled them to reach significant gains in fleet utilisation levels.