IDEaS fictional intelligence contest
Polar paradigms 2045: Defending Canada’s sovereignty
Contests
Competition between innovators is the fuel we use to foster the best innovative solutions.
The winners of the Polar paradigms fictional intelligence contest are now available! See the full list of prize winners below.
The challenge
How can the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces (DND/CAF) deploy, sustain, deter, fight and win, against a diverse range of highly capable adversaries, while leveraging emerging and disruptive technologies across multiple domains in the future operational environment of 2040-2045?
The DND/CAF is seeking visionary essays in hard science fiction that explore how emerging technologies can empower military forces to defend Canada’s sovereignty and national interests in the Arctic. Writers are encouraged to create imaginative, plausible scenarios that demonstrate how advanced innovations will safeguard Canadian interests and ensure military readiness, while considering the human and strategic impacts of military operations in this challenging and rapidly changing environment
Results
Note: Titles appear in the language in which they were submitted.
| Place | Title | Author | Province | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st place | Ghost Sustainment and the Architecture of Sovereign Denial in the High Arctic | Vera Kobalia | British Columbia | $10,000 |
| 2nd place | The Arctic Aftermath: A Logistics Officer’s Memoir | Regan Melin | Ontario | $7,500 |
| 3rd place | The Weight of Ice | Derek Linders | Nova Scotia | $5,000 |
| 4th place | Défendre la souveraineté du Canada | Yasmina Ammara | Quebec | $2,500 |
| 5th place | What We Carried into the Cold: Resilience, Sustainment, and Command in the Arctic | Carter Wilkinghoff | Alberta | $2,500 |
| 6th place | THE SILA PROTOCOL Sustaining Sovereignty in the Thaw | Dana Hall | Ontario | $2,500 |
| 7th place | Les maillons de glace | Aurélien Cruse | Quebec | $2,500 |
| 8th place | Opération Carapace | Olivier Gregoire & Elen Gregoire | New Brunswick | $2,500 |
| 9th place | POLARIS | Jasper Schwartz | Quebec | $2,500 |
| 10th place | Le Silence d'une Maison Occupée | Julien Junet | Quebec | $2,500 |
| Women and gender-diverse writer prize | Ghost Sustainment and the Architecture of Sovereign Denial in the High Arctic | Vera Kobalia | British Columbia | $3,000 |
| Student writer prize | What We Carried into the Cold: Resilience, Sustainment, and Command in the Arctic | Carter Wilkinghoff | Alberta | $3,000 |
| Indigenous writer prize | Paradigmes polaires 2045 : Défendre la souveraineté du Canada | Francois Bertrand & Christian Flamand | Quebec | $3,000 |
Scenario
Intelligence has indicated that an adversary nation has recently felt emboldened to stake a physical claim within the Canadian Arctic and enforce it militarily. Canada has responded through multiple avenues to dissuade any territorial incursion. However, these efforts have all failed and Canada stands alone in attempting to protect its sovereign territory. It has established a floating base between Ellesmere and Devon Islands in the eastern portion of the Canadian Arctic. Reports have indicated that the adversarial nation is currently outside of Canada’s territorial claim, and they are posed to move forward and claim Arctic lands in the name of their government.
Deadline
This challenge was open from October 22, 2025, to January 16, 2026, and is now closed. We are no longer accepting applications.