The Department of Community and Government Services, Government of Nunavut is proposing the Undersea Fibre Optic Cable Installation Linking Greenland, Nunavut and Quebec Project. The Project will construct a submarine fiber optic system connecting Iqaluit, Kimmirut and Cape Dorset with an international connection to Nuuk, Greenland. The installation will include the future capability to connect to northern Baffin Island and the Kivalliq region. An additional component of the Project proposes to install fibre optic cable from Sanikiluaq to a similar fibre project to be installed by the Kativik Regional Government in Nunavik, Quebec. The scope of the Project comprises the submarine infrastructure and cable landing infrastructure and includes the construction, operation, maintenance, decommissioning and abandonment of a fibre optic cable system.Approximately 2,400km of fibre optic cable will be installed including all submarine and cable-landing infrastructure, the fibre optical cable, powered repeaters, and line terminating equipment, power-feeding equipment and monitoring equipment.Based on the current timeline, the Project will begin construction in the summer of 2019 for some of the terrestrial components and install the marine cable infrastructure during the open water season of 2020. It is expected that the project in-service operation will begin in the first quarter of 2021. The life expectancy of the system is expected to be over 25 years.For the marine operations, different classes of vessel and equipment may be required. The vessels are usually mid-sized and are commonly used in Canadian waters. The cable is installed using a cableship which will operate during the open water during the August-September 2020 installation window. Depending on the operations to be undertaken, the crew of the cableship will consist of approximately 40 to 80 personnel including the master, chief mate, chief engineer and medically trained personnel. Staff scheduling will plan for work to be carried out continuously over a 24-hour per day basis for the offshore activities. Marine and habitat observers will be on board to ensure there is no interference with fisheries or mammals. In addition, 2 or more, shallow draft vessels or barges may be required for shore-end cable installation at landing sites. The type of vessel to be used will depend on the installation methodology, which will be determined based on the results of the marine survey.On the terrestrial side, the installation of the cable at the landing sites and to the cable station will require heavy machinery. Horizontal Directional Drilling may be required to provide a trenchless method of installing the cable from shore to off-shore. For the shore-landing component, a concrete vault known as a Beach Manhole will be constructed approximately 10 to 30 m inland from the mean high water tide level. A winch of sufficient strength is securely anchored on the beach adjacent to the location of the manhole. Where a traditional landing is possible, a trench is excavated during low tide to a depth of approximately 2 to 3 m from the manhole over the exposed beach to the low tide mark. The cable is then pulled from the cableship with floats identifying its location in the water. A small boat or divers are then used to place the cable on the seabed and beach trench. Once in place, the beach trench is backfilled to the original elevation. Cable burial to 1 to 3 m on the beach is performed with an excavator and limited to the depth of loose sediment over underlying rock. If required, horizontal directional drilling will be undertaken to connect the marine cable to the manhole. The cable installation contractor will place terrestrial markers at each landing site to remind residents and boaters of the presence of the cable. Once buried, the land in the right-of-way for the cable route will be restored to its previous condition.Human resources required for project construction are highly skilled and specialized. For the most part, workers will be existing employees of the contractors retained for project construction. Contracting opportunities exist for the supply of various materials and equipment, fuel, materials storage and inspection services. Local contractors and residents would be hired to build and install the beach manholes and backhaul tie-ins.