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 about 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 regularly,from October through April. For the 2025-2026 season, meetings will be held in a variety of locations and on-line. Generally, meetings will be held on the second Tuesday of every month although with several exceptions. For example, in November the second Tuesday falls on November 11, Remembrance Day, so the November meeting will be held on the 14th, on-line.

Annual dinners are held in April and feature distinguished guest speakers.

In 2025 the dinner was held on Thursday April 24^th, with guest-of-honour His Excellency Whit Fraser, C.C., vice-regal consort of Governor-General Mary Simon, journalist and author (True North Rising, Cold Edge of Heaven). After dinner, His Excellency presented Friends in High Places: a focus on experiences and people who made a remarkable contribution to the Arctic and Canada.