HMCS Toronto and the Canadian Coast Guard ship Pierre Radisson, which are participating in Operation Nanook, sail past an iceberg in the Hudson Strait off the coast of Baffin Island. (DND/Canadian Press)

Prime Minister Stephen Harper arrived in Iqaluit on Monday afternoon as part of an Arctic trip that will include observing an anti-submarine warfare exercise.

The prime minister will board the frigate HMCS Toronto on Wednesday to observe Operation Nanook, a military exercise intended to help demonstrate Canada's sovereignty in the eastern Arctic near Baffin Island where Russian and American subs have long prowled.

Canada has also been in quarrels with Denmark over control of Hans Island, but they quietly began forging closer military links recently.

The exercise, which will conclude on Aug. 28, is also meant to practise responses to emergencies such as an attack or a sunken ship, officials said.

PM to board submarine

Operation Nanook will involve about 700 military personnel on land and sea and in the air. It will include maritime surveillance patrols in the Hudson and Davis straits and aerial reconnaissance over much of the North.

Brig.-Gen. David Millar, commander of Joint Task Force North, said Harper will also be aboard the submarine HMCS Corner Brook as it dives in the area around Frobisher Bay.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay and Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Walt Natynczyk are also expected to observe the exercise.

"We're very, very encouraged that they're coming to participate in the operation as well as coming up to the North," Millar said.

The Conservative government has pledged to beef up military presence in the North.

Harper will also be visiting Yellowknife and Whitehorse on his five-day tour and is holding a cabinet meeting in the region.

MacKay, Prentice en route

Before going to Iqaluit, MacKay stopped in Yellowknife on Monday morning to officially launch the North's first permanent army reserve unit.

Six members have signed up to join the Yellowknife Company, which is part of the Loyal Edmonton Regiment, since the unit's creation was first announced almost a year ago. The Defence Department hopes to recruit 100 people over time.

"Of course, due to geography these troops are going to probably have a lot of training in northern survival, Arctic warfare and Arctic survival," department spokesman Peter Fuerbringer told CBC News.

A typical reserve company is composed of both part-time and full-time reservists who train on evenings and weekends.

Defence officials have said the Yellowknife Company will complement the work of the Canadian Rangers, a reservist group that helps with sovereignty patrols and search missions in the North.

Meanwhile, Environment Minister Jim Prentice discussed ongoing climate change negotiations with Nunavut Premier Eva Aariak in Iqaluit on Monday.

The meeting was part of Canada's preparations for the UN's climate change meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark, in December.

Prentice is holding individual meetings with all provinces and territories this summer.

With files from The Canadian Press