Canada is heading for negotiations over who owns the North Pole.

After years of delay and political arm-twisting, Canada has made a claim to a vast portion of the Arctic seabed that includes the North Pole.

The claim sets up the federal government for talks with Russia and Denmark, which had already filed their own claims.

Canada's document was filed last week with a United Nations body that is to determine the scientific validity of each country's version of where the lines on the map should be.

A decision is to be made after negotiations between the three countries.

Canada's submission is late — the previous federal government nixed plans for a claim in 2013 that didn't include the North Pole.