Nunavik, Nunavut rank high in accidental deaths

This map from the Conference Board of Canada’s Centre for the North shows that Nunavik and Nunavik have two of the highest rates of accidental deaths in Canada. (IMAGE/CONF. BOARD OF CANADA)

Here you can see how the North compares to the South with respect to the number of fatal accidents. (IMAGE/ CONF. BOARD OF CANADA)

A person living in northern Canada is much more likely to die in an accident than a resident of southern Canada, according to the latest release from the Conference Board of Canada’s “Here, the North” series, called “An Accident Waiting to Happen.”

Deaths caused by “unintentional injury,” as defined by Statistics Canada,” can be the result of various types of incidents — motor vehicle collisions, falls, drowning, burns, poisoning. These dangers confront Canadians from coast to coast to coast on a daily basis.

Compared with other regions of of Canada, Nunavik rates second on the list in the rate of fatal accidents, with Nunavut coming in fourth.

This means a person living in Nunavik is more than five times as likely to die in an accident than is a person living, for example, in the Montreal suburb of Laval.

And a person living in Nunavut is nearly four times as likely to die in an accident than a person living, for example, in Ottawa.

The five census divisions with the highest rates of death from unintentional injury (per 100,000 population) are:

• Northern Manitoba — 84
• Nunavik — 78
• Northern Saskatchewan — 72
• Northern British Columbia — 69
• Nunavut — 62

Most northern census divisions report more than 45 accidental deaths per 100,000 population.

Yukon has 59 such deaths per 100,000 population, followed by the Northwest Territories (54), northern Newfoundland and Labrador (51), northern Alberta (one census division with 54 and another with 49) and northern Ontario (two census divisions with 49 and 47 deaths respectively).

“We cannot say, for certain, why accidental death rates are so much higher in the North,” Gilles Rheaume, the conference board’s vice-president for public policy.

“Treacherous roads, severe weather conditions, hazardous jobs, and traditional activities such as hunting, fishing and trapping in remote areas could be factors. The relative lack of doctors and the long distances between northern communities could also contribute to the higher rate of death from unintentional injuries.”

The conference board’s bi-weekly series, “Here, the North,” is designed to show the similarities and differences between Canada’s North and South, and between northern regions.