Meet your fellow high school student travelers and one or more of your leaders in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and fly together to Winnipeg, Manitoba. Get to know your group and On Assignment team during an overnight in Winnipeg, enjoy a meal and your first night together, then fly northward to Churchill early the next morning.

Begin your Arctic adventure in the remote town of Churchill, nicknamed the “Polar Bear Capital of the World.” Dive into an in-depth orientation, take a walk in this former fur-trading outpost—home to fewer than a thousand people—and learn about everyday life on the icy edge of Hudson Bay. Head across the bay with naturalist guides to hike from the Prince of Wales Fort to the harbor at Sloop Cove, looking for bear and other wildlife along the way. Spy names carved into the rocks, marks left by early European fur trappers, and hear the history of some of these individuals as shared by our Parks Canada guides. Photograph the wilderness that surrounds the town during a hike along the rugged shores of Hudson Bay. Learn about the educational outreach initiatives being done by Polar Bear International and their studies on bear behavior, biology, and population distribution. Visit the Itsanitaq Museum for a look at life on the tundra through the ages, and check out the exhibits on narwhals, sometimes called the “unicorns of the sea.” Attend a presentation by Parks Canada guides from the local Indigeous community to learn more about the history of Churchill and the surrounding areas, including the troubling history of the forced relocation programs that began in the 1950’s. Practice the art of dog sledding on a lesson with a local dog sledding team and learn about the importance of this unique form of arctic transportation. Visit Churchill's Polar Bear Holding Facility and discuss their work to maintain human-polar bear coexistence through detaining and relocating the curious polar bears that wander into town.

Head to the Churchill Northern Studies Centre, a research facility at the edge of the tundra that has hosted National Geographic-funded scientists and conservationists. Learn about the behavior of polar bears, arctic foxes, and other wildlife from the resident researchers, and get a firsthand look at how rising temperatures have affected the surrounding ecosystems.

Venture out onto the tundra on foot and in our all-terrain vehicle in search of polar bears, which arrive each summer with their cubs to roam the wilds surrounding Churchill, waiting for Hudson Bay to freeze over so they can hunt seals and other marine life on the pack ice. Under guidance from naturalist guides observe bears from a safe range, and photograph their white coats against the magenta fireweed that blankets the tundra each summer. Return to the Churchill Northern Studies Centre for a presentation by members of one of the remaining Indigenous fur trapping families in Churchill to hear about the practice of trapping and how the industry has changed in recent decades.

Encounter and photograph other wildlife who inhabit the far north, including caribou, red foxes, and a host of migratory birds. Kayak in waterways that teem with beluga whales, which migrate here in the thousands during the summer months to feed and give birth to their young. These marine mammals are known as the “canaries of the sea” for the singing noises they make. Watch them play at the water’s surface, and listen to their clicks and whistles as we learn how scientists are working to decipher their communications. With the help of our host biologists, investigate the ecological health of an estuary that serves as a temporary habitat for calving belugas. Present your On Assignment project and celebrate your time together in northern Manitoba before catching a flight from Churchill to Winnipeg.

The next morning, fly together to Minneapolis, Minnesota, then, continue on to your final destination.