Climate change is posing great challenges to Canada's Arctic northern regions, risking local infrastructure and basic living conditions, according to a report released Thursday.

The northern communities are unprepared to cope with the threat that climate change poses to their roads, buildings and other infrastructure and urgent actions are needed from Ottawa to deal with that, the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, an independent federal government agency, said in its report.

"Climate change is moving fastest in Arctic areas, requiring Canada to be a world leader in adaptation practices, more than we had even contemplated," the group's chairperson said in a news release.

Climate-change effects on the region include winter roads melting early, forcing communities to airlift supplies; melting permafrost destabilizing buildings and airport runways; increased snowfall adding additional stress to buildings; and, storm surges putting communities at risk, according to the report.

The report called for a comprehensive effort from Ottawa, making 16 recommendations, including updating construction and engineering codes, providing better weather information and others.

Canada's northern regions are sparsely populated, with only about 101,310 people living on a territory half of the country's total. About 51 percent of the population are aboriginals.