Nunavik police report calls for Inuit-led training

A major report on policing in Nunavik recommends creating an Inuit-led police training program, changes to Quebec’s hiring laws and greater Inuit control over policing in the region.

In July 2025, the Kativik Regional Government launched an audit of the Nunavik Police Service after three fatal police shootings occurred within eight months. Since then, six-year-old Alacie Iqaluk died in a police-involved shooting in Inukjuak.

On Tuesday, KRG released the report, Toward a Distinctly Inuit Public Safety System in Nunavik. Neither representatives from KRG nor the Nunavik Police Service responded to interview requests.

Conducted by the law firm Bélanger Sauvé and consultant Réjean Hardy Inc., the report says the police force faces major challenges, including high staff turnover, language and cultural barriers, officer burnout and growing mistrust from communities.

Makivvik and the KRG should define what policing and public safety should look like in Nunavik and create an Inuit-led police training facility, the report says.

The report also calls for Quebec’s Police Act to be amended to give Nunavik greater control over hiring standards.

For example, to become a police officer in Quebec, a person cannot have criminal conviction. The report proposes exemptions for certain minor offences for Inuit applicants, to make it easier to recruit local officers in Nunavik.

The number of Inuit officers has declined over the years because of burnout, limited access to training and hiring requirements that fail to reflect realities in Nunavik, according to the report.

It says many Inuit officers face additional emotional strain because they are sometimes required to intervene in incidents that involve relatives or close friends.

The report also recommends the force reinstate the special constable program, which helped recruit Inuit in the early 2000s.

As of February, there were three Inuit officers in the Nunavik Police Service.

The report says growing drug- and weapon-related incidents have made police interventions more dangerous and frequent.

In February, Nunavik police Chief Jean‑François Bernier told regional councillors that assaults were increasing in the region, with 3,123 reported in 2025 compared to 1,759 in 2023.

Other recommendations include mandatory cultural and crisis-intervention training for non-Inuit officers, expanded mental health support for police personnel and stronger community policing initiatives.

The report makes 35 recommendations on governance reform, recruitment, training, wellness and rebuilding trust.