Cambridge Bay reopens youth shelter

The Municipality of Cambridge Bay has reopened its 24-7 youth shelter, adding one more space to its support system for the hamlet’s young people.

The shelter on Kangok Street is in line with the city’s goal of providing safe, productive places for youth to spend their time, said Solomon Bucknor, director of the hamlet’s healthy living department.

“All of this, we are trying to do as a kind of indirect way of reducing suicide ideation, and [giving] any kind of support we can give to these kids,” Bucknor said.

The youth shelter reopened in February after having been shut down since June 2021 for renovations.

There are six beds in Cambridge Bay’s youth shelter, although the hamlet expects bunk beds to arrive in the spring, bringing the total count to 10 beds. (Photo courtesy of Solomon Bucknor)

Bucknor said the municipality had to ensure the building was up to code, such as having fire-resistant walls in the bedrooms and hallway and having interconnected smoke alarms in rooms.

It has six beds, and the hamlet is expecting to have 10 when bunk beds arrive this spring, Bucknor said. The building the youth shelter is in now is owned by the municipality and used to be staff housing.

The shelter is open for youth aged 12 to 18, but Bucknor said that rule is flexible, as people younger than 12 can stay at the shelter with the involvement of the Nunavut government’s Family Services Department.

They can stay as long as they want, he said, either to sleep or to hang out, have something to eat and play games.

“It’s really, very important,” he said. “It’s good for the kids.”

The Kangok Street facility replaced an older youth shelter that operated on Okalik Street from March to May 2021. Bucknor said he pushed the municipality for another location because the old facility was on the outskirts of town and its rooms were too small to fit bunk beds.

That meant fewer available beds, and the shelter would be far away from the municipality’s other amenities.

“The building was very, very old and it was not appropriate to our needs. It was a big struggle,” he said.

He said the new Kangok Street youth shelter is within a five-minute walk of the youth centre and makerspace, two other programs run by the municipality with the goal of providing safe, productive spaces for youth.

The youth centre is open throughout the day and is a place where kids can get breakfast and lunch, watch TV, hang out and play games, Bucknor said.

The digital makerspace, which opened in November, is a place for kids to go to make music, videos, items with the 3D printer and play video games.

Now, the hamlet has added the shelter to its youth support system.

“We want to get them off the streets,” Bucknor said. “Once we’re able to meaningfully engage these youth, then the less trouble they run into.”