An informal group, the Circle started around a dinner table. In 1947, a time when interest in Canada’s north was increasing rapidly, Tom and Jackie Manning remarked to their friends and fellow arctic travellers Graham and Diana Rowley that their dining room table could no longer accommodate the growing number of people who gathered there regularly to talk abut the north. The Arctic Circle came into being not long after and has been flourishing ever since, sustained by its members with no outside assistance.

The Circle meets monthly to hear interesting and informative presentations on everything arctic. Since its first meeting on December 8th 1947, over five hundred fascinating presentations have been given by experts on northern history, natural sciences, society, exploration, arts, transportation, astronomy, archaeology, medicine, and much more.

The Arctic Circle meets on the second Tuesday of every month from October through April at the RCAF Officers' Mess, 158 Gloucester Street, Ottawa, at 8:00 pm. The bar opens at 7:30 pm.

Annual dinners are held in April and feature distinguished guest speakers. This year the dinner will be held on April 29, 2021, with guest speaker Pat Sutherland.