In a bid to consolidate its grip on the Arctic, Canada aims to expand its military presence in the region and make the stay for its troops as comfortable as possible.

The Canadian Defense ministry plans to expand its logistics in the Arctic to set the stage for further expansion into the far north.

According Defense News, the armed forces aim to make their Arctic Training Center in Nunavut, which previously worked only during the winter months, operable year-round. The center will be enlarged as well so more equipment can be stationed there.The conditions of the over one hundred troops deployed there will also be improved, with billiards and a new gym, RT noted.

Arctic rich oil and gas reserves are enticing to world powers that have overlapping claims in the region. Alongside Canada, the US, Russia, Denmark and Norway all have Arctic ambitions.

Rob Huebert of the University of Calgary believes that the geopolitical importance of the Arctic is rapidly increasing nowadays.

“Russia, even in the worst days of the deterioration of its navy still maintains the Murmansk bases. The Americans have always maintained their Alaskan naval military bases to support any move to Asia,” he told RT.

China, which also has strategic interests in the Arctic, turned its eye on the region recently, Huebert opined.

He said that any major conflict elsewhere on the Earth would definitely affect the Arctic. Russia, for instance, could enhance its long range bomber patrols along its borders with the US, Canada and Norway, he said.

Nonetheless, Huebert suggested that disputed territories in the Arctic won’t be in the center of an all-out war, noting that the region could be dragged into conflict that began in other parts of the world.