Nunavut’s Infrastructure Gap

NTI has done the first-ever comprehensive study of infrastructure in Nunavut compared to the rest of Canada. In every one of the infrastructure sectors reviewed, Nunavut faces a significant gap when measured against national standards.

The report analyzes a range of infrastructure priority areas including housing, broadband, health care, power, and ports and harbours. The research shows that Nunavut’s infrastructure is commonly inadequate, in poor repair, or altogether absent when compared with the Canadian baseline.

Key facts from the report:

  • Nunavut has the highest rate of housing overcrowding, and the largest proportion of housing in need of major repair (nearly six times the national average).
  • Nunavut has the fewest staffed and operational hospital beds per capita in the country (1,095 persons per bed, compared to a national average of 409)
  • The fastest possible internet speed available in Nunavut is eight times slower than the Canada-wide average.
  • Nunavut is the only province or territory with no central museum or heritage centre.
  • Approximately half of the children born to Nunavut Inuit are delivered in Southern hospitals, and most major health care treatments must take place out of territory.

Inuit organizations are doing innovative work to plan and build the infrastructure that Nunavut Inuit need to thrive. But without the meaningful partnership promised in the Nunavut Agreement, we risk falling even further behind.

To read the Executive Summary: https://www.tunngavik.com/files/2020/10/Nunavuts_Infrastructure_Gap_ExecSum_English.pdf

Information for media: https://www.tunngavik.com/files/2020/10/NR-2020-10-20-NTI-Release-NIG-Report-eng.pdf

To request the full report, please contact:

 

Karen Flaherty

Assistant Director of Communications

Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.

Kflaherty@tunngavik.com