Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is hosting a second high-profile international visitor this week with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg arriving in Canada today.

The pair is scheduled to tour a military radar site in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, marking the first time any NATO chief has visited Canada’s Arctic.

Senior Canadian and NATO staff say Stoletenberg’s visit is meant to highlight that the region is a security priority in light of Russia’s war in Ukraine and issues related to climate change.

Rapidly accelerating melting in the Arctic means that the area is more accessible to allies, and to enemies.

Stoltenberg’s last visit to Canada was in 2019.

He and Trudeau last met at the NATO summit in Madrid in late June.

Earlier this week, the prime minister was joined in Toronto and Newfoundland by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, whose visit was meant to strengthen the green energy ties between the two countries and reduce Germany’s reliance on Russian energy.