Frequently asked questions.
Direct answers about Borealis Technologies — the ARTEMIS multi-agency simulation platform, and Tiger Dam flood barriers for Asian markets. We publish here what most competitors keep behind an RFQ: certifications, supply-chain provenance, deployment specifics, and dual-use positioning.
01About Borealis
Who is Borealis Technologies and what does the company do?
Borealis Technologies Inc. is a Calgary-headquartered Canadian defence and disaster-systems company. We deliver the ARTEMIS multi-agency simulation platform for tabletop and computer-driven exercises, and we are the authorised Tiger Dam reseller for selected Asian markets. We are distinct from the federal DND BOREALIS research program, from Borealis chemicals, and from OMERS Borealis Infrastructure. Our Manila office (Borealis Philippines) supports ASEAN customers.
Is Borealis Technologies the same company as ALTS Canada?
Yes. Borealis Technologies was previously known as ALTS Canada. The company rebranded to Borealis Technologies in 2026 to reflect its expanded product portfolio across UAS, surveillance sensors, simulation, and disaster resilience. All existing contracts, certifications, security clearances, and customer-support relationships held under ALTS Canada continue under Borealis Technologies without interruption. The Manila office (previously ALTS Philippines) is now Borealis Philippines.
Is Borealis a defence company or a civilian company?
Borealis is a dual-use defence and humanitarian technology company. Our customers fall into five broad categories: (a) allied defence forces and coast guards, (b) national and provincial emergency management agencies, (c) natural-resource operators in mining, oil and gas, and forestry, (d) border security and customs agencies, and (e) UN agencies and NGO humanitarian-response programmes. Our ARTEMIS multi-agency simulation and Tiger Dam flood-protection lines have both defence and civilian applications, and we design them so a single customer can run them across both mission profiles.
Where are Borealis products manufactured, and what counts as Canadian content for ITB purposes?
Borealis products are designed and integrated in Calgary, Alberta, with manufacturing partners in Alberta and British Columbia. Production for the ASEAN market is supported from Manila. Because our prime engineering, integration, and key sub-assembly work occurs in Canada, every Borealis sale to a Canadian Crown contract counts toward the prime contractor's Industrial and Technological Benefits (ITB) obligation under the Government of Canada's ITB Policy. We publish a per-product Canadian-content statement covering manufacturing location, NAICS codes, and ITB Tier classification — available on request.
What are the ITAR and export-control implications of buying from Borealis?
Canadian-designed, Canadian-manufactured defence hardware is regulated under the Export and Import Permits Act (EIPA) and the Canadian Export Control List — not ITAR — unless US-origin components trigger US re-export obligations. For most Borealis products we can provide a fully "ITAR-free" configuration, which materially shortens procurement timelines for allies in the Indo-Pacific (Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand) and for European Five Eyes partners. Each product line ships with an export classification statement and recommended end-use certificate.
Does Borealis ship to the Philippines and support ASEAN defence and disaster-management customers?
Yes. Our Manila office (Borealis Philippines) supports the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine Coast Guard, NDRRMC, OCD, DPWH, and local-government DRRMCs. Typical engagement mapping: ARTEMIS to NDRRMC and LGU tabletop programmes; Tiger Dam to OCD and DILG stockpile procurement. We are familiar with the AFP Equipment Acquisition Framework and with non-US-FMS procurement pathways for partner nations. Local technical support and reseller activities are coordinated from Manila.
How does Borealis approach data sovereignty and AI ethics?
Our position is "Canadian-owned, customer-controlled data." ARTEMIS exercise data is retained by the customer, not by us. Every AI-assisted feature in our product line is designed human-in-the-loop — we do not ship autonomous targeting decision authority. Because Borealis is a Canadian company, we are not subject to the US CLOUD Act, which is a meaningful differentiator for allied customers comparing us to US hyperscale vendors.
02ARTEMIS multi-agency simulation
What is Borealis ARTEMIS, and how is it different from NASA Artemis?
ARTEMIS by Borealis Technologies is a multi-agency live-map simulation platform for tabletop and computer-driven exercises. It is unrelated to NASA's Artemis lunar programme and to any space-bridge simulator game. ARTEMIS sits at the intersection of two existing markets: collaborative tabletop exercises (TTX) on a shared geographic map, and scripted computer-driven scenarios. It ships in four variants — Military, Mining (TSM-aligned), Logistics, and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) — sharing a common engine.
What is the difference between a tabletop exercise (TTX) and a computer-driven simulation in ARTEMIS?
Tabletop mode is a facilitated, collaborative session — agencies sit (physically or virtually) around a shared live map, the facilitator injects events, and players discuss and document their responses. There is no scripted adversary AI; the value is in cross-agency coordination and decision-making under stress. Computer-driven mode runs scripted scenarios with timed injects, automated environment effects (weather, fire spread, flood propagation), and optional adversary or hazard agent behaviour. The same ARTEMIS map and customer GIS layers serve both modes, so a customer can graduate from TTX to computer-driven exercises without re-platforming.
Does ARTEMIS comply with ICS, NIMS, or TSM standards?
Yes. ARTEMIS exercise structures align with Incident Command System (ICS) and the US National Incident Management System (NIMS). The Mining variant is aligned with the Mining Association of Canada's Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) protocol — specifically the Crisis Management and Communications Planning and the Community and Indigenous Peoples Relationships protocol areas. The DRR variant references the UNDRR Sendai Framework terminology, which is the lingua franca for ASEAN and Pacific disaster-management buyers including the Philippines NDRRMC.
Does ARTEMIS work with our existing GIS and mapping data?
Yes — bring your own basemap. ARTEMIS ingests Esri Shapefile, GeoJSON, KMZ/KML, GeoTIFF, and standard OGC web services (WMS, WMTS, WFS). Customers running Esri ArcGIS Online can hot-link their authoritative layers directly. For Canadian customers we natively support Natural Resources Canada open data. For mine sites, ports, or campus customers, you can drop in your own facility CAD and we'll bake it into the exercise basemap — a workflow that generic-terrain simulators like VBS4 cannot match for site-specific exercises.
Can ARTEMIS run distributed exercises across multiple cities or countries?
Yes. ARTEMIS is browser-based for participants; only the facilitator workstation requires a thicker client. Distributed exercises across provincial EOCs, between Calgary and Manila, or across an ASEAN multinational exercise are supported by design. We integrate with Microsoft Teams and Zoom for video-conference inject delivery. Bandwidth requirements are modest enough to support participants on field-deployed LTE/Starlink connections — important for capacity-building exercises in remote regions.
Can ARTEMIS simulate cyber and CBRN scenarios, not just kinetic ones?
Yes — and this is a deliberate differentiator from purely military simulators. ARTEMIS supports non-kinetic injects including power-grid failure, SCADA intrusion, water-system contamination, infectious-disease outbreak, and supply-chain disruption. In the Mining variant we ship a tailings-dam-failure-plus-downstream-contamination-plus-regulatory-notification scenario as a starting template. In Logistics we model multi-modal disruption: a cyber attack on port operations combined with a flood blocking the alternate land corridor. These multi-domain combinations match the modern threat profile and are not addressable by VBS4, CAE STE, or Everbridge 360 alone.
03Tiger Dam flood barriers
What is Tiger Dam, and how does it work?
Tiger Dam is a water-filled bladder flood barrier — industrial-grade fabric tubes that fill in as little as 90 seconds from any local water source, including the floodwater itself. A single 50-foot 18-inch Tiger Dam unit replaces approximately 500 sandbags. The system is manufactured in Calgary, Alberta and Richmond, British Columbia, Canada (and in Kenner, Louisiana, USA). Borealis Technologies is the authorised Tiger Dam reseller for selected Asian markets — coordinated from our Manila office.
Is Tiger Dam FM Approved, and what does that certification mean?
Yes — all four standard sizes (18", 24", 36", 42") are Platinum-Level FM Approved. FM Approvals tested Tiger Dam at the US Army Corps of Engineers' Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) in Vicksburg, Mississippi against FM Approvals Standard 2510, which is ANSI-recognised and comparable to UL, CSA, and European testing standards. FM Approval is the gold standard referenced by FEMA BRIC grant compliance, by insurance underwriters, and by international flood-mitigation procurement. Tokyo Fire Department and Kansai Airport are among the documented Asian deployments.
How quickly can Tiger Dam be deployed compared to sandbags?
Tiger Dam deploys in approximately one-fifth the time of an equivalent sandbag wall (per US Army Corps of Engineers testing) and at approximately half the cost on first use, with the economic gap widening on every subsequent reuse. A typical two-person crew using a portable trash pump can emplace and fill a 50-foot section in minutes. For typhoon-prone Asian markets — particularly the Philippines, which faces 20+ landfalling typhoons per year — annual reuse delivers a strongly favourable total cost of ownership over a 5-10 year planning horizon.
Can Tiger Dam be stacked for higher flood protection?
Yes — Tiger Dam is the only water-filled barrier patented to be stackable from 18 inches to 32 feet in height. This is decisive for extreme-event scenarios — monsoon surge, typhoon storm surge, river ice-jam flooding — where a single-tier barrier is insufficient. Stacked configurations have been independently engineered and tested under the FM Approvals and Army Corps protocol. For a 4-metre storm-surge scenario in the Philippines, a stacked 42-inch configuration is the recommended specification.
Can Tiger Dam be deployed on uneven terrain or around corners?
Yes. Tiger Dam is the only water-filled-barrier system patented to connect together into any shape — circles, 90-degree turns, complex polygons — for continuous protection over miles. Practical examples include encircling a water treatment plant, protecting a curved river bend, or routing around rural infrastructure. Deployment diagrams for non-linear configurations are available for Asia-market customers on request.
Is Tiger Dam reusable, and how is it stored between deployments?
Yes — Tiger Dam is designed for repeated reuse. Each 50-foot 18-inch unit weighs approximately 50 lb dry and 6,300 lb when filled. Between deployments, units are drained, cleaned (fresh-water or appropriate decontamination depending on flood content), rolled, palletised, and stored in a covered warehouse. For government stockpile procurement in Asia we provide standard footprint calculations: rolled inventory for one kilometre of 18-inch Tiger Dam fits within a footprint significantly smaller than the equivalent in pre-filled sandbags, with no degradation between hurricane seasons when stored per specification.
Need a specification we haven't published yet?
Per-product datasheets, ITAR / EIPA classification statements, and pre-cleared end-use certificates are available on request. Indo-Pacific and Five Eyes inquiries are routed promptly.
Contact Borealis