It was Canada's direct response to the unauthorized transit through the Northwest Passage in summer 1985 by USCGC Polar Sea, a United States Coast Guard icebreaker.

The transit was difficult and in response, the Canadian government passed the Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act.

[3] This was further amplified by the inability of Canada's icebreaker CCGS John A. Macdonald to follow the American ship once the ice got too thick.

[1][9] The ship's 875 long tons (889 t) of aviation fuel would have carried in tanks separated from the outer hull to minimize the chances of pollution.

The competition to build the vessel was messy and the Mulroney government created a committee to sift through the proposals to find the best three.

[11] This led the Canadian Coast Guard to ask the Versatile team to come up with a design based on a cheaper propulsion system.

Funding for the project was reduced over the following years and on 19 February 1990, the program was officially cancelled, mainly due to rising costs, now pegged at $680 million.

[11] Following the Polar 8 Project cancellation, the Canadian Coast Guard funded the modernization overhaul and hull extension of the large icebreaker CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent in order to maintain a strategic presence in the Arctic Ocean.