Nunavik’s smallest community busy ‘like in Montreal’ amid construction, renovations

Aupaluk Mayor Maggie Akpahatak works in her office. (Photo by Jeff Pelletier)

The small Nunavik community of Aupaluk might not be where you’d expect to hear traffic reports on the radio.

But with dozens of trucks and construction vehicles on the roads this summer, Mayor Maggie Akpahatak has gone on local FM radio to let people know to drive safely and be mindful of kids playing outside as her community of just over 200 people experiences a bit of an infrastructure boom.

“I was saying to myself, ‘Oh my gosh, we look like in Montreal,’” Akpahatak said, recalling a recent drive.

“A lot of people [are] on the road right now… There’s a lot of things going on right now.”

Akpahatak named some of the infrastructure projects her community is in the process of receiving, including a new water storage tank and a new fuel storage tank.

“Our water tank was too small,” she said, describing water shortages the community regularly faces during the winter.

Other projects include a new Hydro-Québec power plant and local power system upgrade.

Aupaluk’s water plant, where work is underway to build a new water tank. (Photo by Jeff Pelletier)

That facility, which would function as a diesel and solar “hybrid” plant, is slated to cost $106.5 million and be completed in 2027, according to an investment report published by Hydro-Québec.

As well, new houses are going up and existing ones are under renovation, and a new youth centre is slated to open in September.

Nunatsiaq News asked Kativik Regional Government how much the new water tank will cost but did not receive a response. A public works activity report from May identifies the work to install a new reservoir tank as ongoing in Aupaluk, as part of $50 million in water infrastructure upgrades across Nunavik.

That funding comes from a $163-million deal KRG signed with Quebec in 2023 to improve municipal infrastructure across the region.

Aupaluk has seen other additions to the community in recent years, including a new $45-million health centre that opened in 2023 and has been “doing good so far” to serve the community, said deputy mayor Louisa Grey.

What’s spurring this development? Grey pointed to a general need to make sure the community is ready to handle a growing population.

“We can’t build small anymore. We need to continue always developing, looking at the future,” she said.

“Our population — for 200 — is small, but the facilities we’re going to need in like 15, 20 years are going to have to match the population for 15, 20 years.”

Grey estimates the typical Aupaluk household has at least two or three children, who are likely to grow up and start their own families in the community.

“So if you imagine that, 15 years from now, that’s a lot of people,” Grey said.

“We need to make sure everything’s kind of growing with that.”

At the northern village office, councillors are looking at where and how to build for Aupaluk’s future. That includes exploring a relocation of the airport, which sits directly adjacent to the community.

A construction laydown area in Aupaluk shows some of the materials and equipment brought into the community as it experiences a bit of an infrastructure boom. (Photo by Jeff Pelletier)

However, that’s a “big discussion for the community,” said Grey, offering the hypothetical question of whether it’s even possible to move an entire airport.

With all the work happening in Aupaluk, both Akpahatak and Grey share a positive outlook on the community’s future.

“It’s chaos because it’s very busy, but it’s exciting because [in] maybe two or three years our community will have everything we need,” said Akpahatak.