The Canadian deputy Prime Minister, Herb Gray, announced in December that the governemnt of Canada has endorsed the St Roch Millennium Project. The announcement was made at the Vancouver Maritime Museum which is home to the historic St Roch and which is working with the St Roch Millennium Group on raising funds for the project and for the museum and its objectives. The intended trip involves navigation through the Arctic as part of a circumnavigation of North America. It will be a reenactment of the historic voyage of the RCMP vessel St Roch which circumnavigated North America from 1940 to 1942 on duty and playing a role in asserting Canadian authority in the Arctic during WWII. It was the first ship to traverse the Northwedst Passage from east to west between Halifax and Vancouver.

The St Roch group is to acquire the RCMP patrol vessel Nadon, which will be prepared for the voyage with modifications and electronic updating. The Nadon is an RCMP patrol vessel that was laid up during a recent government financial cut-back and had no plans for return to active duty.

The cost of the project, a small part of which will come from the Millennium Partnership Programme, will be funded by corporate sponsorship.The epic voyage is planned to take place between July 1, 2000 to January 1, 2001.