IKALUKTUTIAK/CAMBRIDGE BAY - Sovereignty, protecting the Arctic ecosystem and developing the Northern economy will be part of the mandate of the High Arctic research station to be built in Cambridge Bay, the federal government recently announced.

The leading-edge, multi-disciplinary facility will house research labs, training facilities as well as centres for technology development and traditional knowledge, for instance, stated the federal government. It added the work performed there will touch upon the natural, physical, economical, social, health and life sciences, as well as humanities and engineering.

Cambridge Bay Mayor Syd Glawson is happy with the mandate, saying it falls in line with what he was thinking.

"I think it's pretty ambitious. It's sounds good for all the North. It's going to work well, I think," he said, adding some people in the community have called him too enthusiastic. "Nothing is ever too ambitious for the North. If you are as enthusiastic about the North as I am, about improving it, this fits right in. It's a good, good mandate."

Glawson also said he is satisfied with the way the project is moving along.

The mandate is achievable and the facility will become this country's "northern jewel," said Nunavut MP and federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq.

"In all the areas, that we've identified, the mandate is achievable. It will enhance Northern knowledge and Canada's knowledge of the North and in fact, lead to other potential developments," she said.

"I'm very proud of the mandate. It supports Northern communities. It supports Northerners. It will only strengthen Canada's Arctic. It's a very good achievable mandate."

Cambridge Bay beat out Pond Inlet and Resolute this past summer when it was awarded the facility, set to open in 2017.