Arviat reserves Hudson Bay waterfront site for Inuit Nunangat University
Hamlet set aside 107,000-square-foot ‘oceanfront’ site before proposal submission
Arviat will host the main campus of Inuit Nunangat University, the first Inuit-led university in Canada, on a 107,000-square-foot Hudson Bay waterfront site. The community’s proposal highlighted available land, upgraded infrastructure, student housing, and strong Inuktitut use, helping it stand out among eight shortlisted locations. (File photo)
Faculty and students at Inuit Nunangat University can expect sweeping views of Hudson Bay from a waterfront site Arviat reserved well before submitting its successful proposal to host the school, says Mayor Joe Savikataaq Jr.
“There is a lot of excitement [in Arviat] and this project and this proposal was not one person or one company,” Savikataaq said. “It was a whole team who got together, and it was a success.”
The hamlet council set aside roughly 107,000 square feet (10,000 square metres) of land — an area about the size of six NHL rinks — at the east end of Arviat for the Inuit-led university, ensuring the community could meet key requirements to host the main campus.
Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami president Natan Obed announced Wednesday that Arviat was selected as the site for the university’s main campus over seven other communities. The campus is expected to open in 2030.
The facility requires space for a 26,900-square-foot main building plus 21,500 square feet of living accommodations, ITK said in a February 2025 news release. No construction date has been announced yet.
Savikataaq said the next step will be for ITK to secure a lease before proceeding with development.
“Typically, there are about 25 to 30-year leases, but it could go significantly longer than that according to the [Nunavut] Land Act,” he said.
The proposed campus site is located near existing residential areas. Savikataaq said the hamlet ensured there’s enough space for both academic buildings and student accommodations.
Infrastructure readiness was another factor in Arviat’s successful proposal.
“Just a few years ago, we got a major upgrade and additional cell for our water supply, a new treatment plant,” Savikataaq said.
Other projects planned include a new airport terminal and power plant, though no construction dates have been announced.
A $70-million modular housing factory in Arviat is also expected to begin production in August, he said. It is being developed by Sakku Investments Corp., the business arm of Kivalliq Inuit Association, and RG Solution, a Quebec-based modular construction firm.
Savikataaq said the combination of available land, solid infrastructure plus cultural factors made the community’s proposal stand out.
“Why our proposal did so well was because of the things that are currently happening or about to happen,” he said.
Savikataaq said Arviat’s water, sewage and waste management systems are sufficient to handle increased demand from the new university. The hamlet has a population of about 3,000 people.
The hamlet was chosen in part because Inuktitut is widely spoken there.
“It makes sense to have a university based in a place where the Inuktitut language is so strong,” Savikataaq said.
He specifically recognized the hamlet council and partner organization Northern Futures Planning for their work in supporting the proposal.
Savikataaq said ITK is responsible for finalizing design, construction timelines, and funding.
“Our responsibility was to make sure that we are prepared infrastructure-wise, service-wise, for the increase in population to make sure that the demand will be met,” he said.
Inuit Nunangat University’s main campus is expected to serve roughly 100 students with 80 faculty and staff.
As well as in-person instruction in Arviat, the university will offer online courses and teaching at smaller, regional satellite campuses.
You da Man Joe jr, a great plan executed, happy for your community, ignore the Keyboard Warriors, and Trolls.
I know you are busy basking in the warm glow of dopamine that follows this pivotal moment. But like gravity it is inevitable that reality will assert itself. When it does Arviat will be seen to house the next Chars building, the next Cultural School… costly, largely empty monuments to ambition without insight.
Enjoy the moment while it lasts. As I see it these so called ‘trolls’ appear to have a much keener sense of the obvious than you.
Let’s see what happens.
As I see it this is Natan’s legacy (some might say vanity) project. He wants to be remembered for more than changing the name of a football club, which earned him a fair measure of derision among some Inuit.
In the end I suspect his detachment from reality will be the true legacy here.
Must be where they were gonna put the tank farm hopefully nooks is ok with a university better than tank farm i guess
.
Still no tank farm tho guess the university gonna run on hydrogen?
I would like to hear our “Esteemed Inuit” leader give the speech in full “Inukti-TUK””.
I dare you
Some of these old folks get stuck on something that is less than what is being done.
It doesn’t matter how much good one does some will focus on the negative for some odd reason.
Natan has brought hundreds of millions of new funding for Nunavut and other Inuit lands, housing funding, infrastructure funding, TB funding, so much new funds, now a arctic university for Inuit, no matter what good and amazing things he does some will be an idiot and talk about something that has nothing to do with how good he has been, no other ITK President has done so much for Inuit, makes me wonder if they are a little jealous and envious. Sad really.
Did they ask Jeremy about his thoughts on the location?
Nunavut already has Nunavut Arctic College.
It is not an exact comparison, but without another one (maybe UNIS in Svalbard is a better comparison)
2022/23 Annual Report shows NAC has 278 dedicated staff positions.
50% of staff positions are filled. NAC Arviat has 20 positions – 11 are filled.
Annual Budget for NAC is around $70M including support for Health Care, Social Workers and Education programs for students in cooperation with southern universities.
Cost for University of the Arctic ball park estimate:
80 staff – $15M/a (fully costed, travel, training etc…) – probably low…
(Would make financial sense to have administration based in the south.)
Facility lease (assuming capitalized by owner and leased, utilities etc): $5M (++)?
$20M /a operating costs.
Shoulda just used that massive so call arctic college building in clyde that isnt barely being used. Quick convert into university. Or even CHARS in cambay. Wasted money building barely being used to.
Or use the existing NAC campus in Iqaluit. It is only a few years old and seems to be under utilized. The lack of self awareness and fiscal responsibility in Nunavut is breathtaking.
Like someone else who has commented about these institutions they are run by our GN, our GN cannot or will not do anything meaningful for Nunavut, our government is like you have to be dependent on outsiders to make things work, these two places are fine examples of that, make sure the GN is hands off of this university, don’t let them corrupt this.
Too many GN experts that think too highly of themselves while doing absolutely nothing.
Do people know the schools in Iqaluit refuse to hire anyone that completes the teacher education program at the college? It’s crazy no one ever talks about this and our media does not pick up on it. How can we build capacity in Nunavut if our own government will not hire from within.
You Da man Joe, congrats again Joe, just received 50 million from the Feds for your university, it’s a start keep pushing, it’s all coming together.
From 1987 until 1994 I was the Dean at the Iqaluit Campus of NAC.
I learned there is a significant difference between a College and a University.
The effort of Arviat’s officials is to be congratulated for ther work to develop their application and their saccess in leading the applications to host a new University.
Arviat will be an excellent location for the Inuit University.