Housing, schools and food vouchers: Qikiqtarjuaq leaders discuss hamlet issues

Former MLA and mayor Mary Killiktee says lack of housing remains an issue for people in Qikiqtarjuaq. (Photos by Arty Sarkisian)

Qikiqtarjuaq is one of Nunavut’s most photogenic communities.

Photographers and hikers (including movie star Leonardo DiCaprio, who reportedly visited in 2015) have travelled to the community to take photos of the surrounding mountains and many polar bears known to inhabit the area.

Destination Nunavut describes Qikiqtarjuaq as “picturesque” and “cheerful.”

But the community of 600 people still has generational issues that affect residents’ daily lives.

‘Housing is always an issue’

In terms of housing, Qikiqtarjuaq is in slightly better shape than most Nunavut communities.

Nunavut Housing Corp. classifies the hamlet’s need for public housing as “high” compared to 19 communities that are in “critical” need, according to the corporation’s 2023-24 annual report.

The public housing stock in the community would need to increase by nearly 40 per cent to house all the people on the housing waiting list. In Kinngait, where the state of housing is the worst of all 25 communities, the number of public housing units needs to almost double.

“But housing is always an issue,” said Qikiqtarjuaq’s senior administrative officer Geela Kooneeliusie.

There are three-bedroom houses in the hamlet with 11 people living in them, she said.

“I can’t even imagine to put myself in their shoes,” said outgoing MLA and former two-term mayor Mary Killiktee.

“No wonder today there are family issues in our homes.”

‘There is hunger’

While hamlets were administering a food voucher program last year through the Inuit Child First Initiative, Kooneeliusie said she felt her relationship with the community slightly changed.

The program offered families an extra $500 per month per child under 18 for food, plus an extra $250 per month for children under four to cover infant and toddler necessities such as formula and diapers.

With the program in place, fewer people were asking her for food or to borrow money.

But as soon as the funding for the program ceased earlier this year, everything went back to what it was before.

“There is hunger,” Kooneeliusie said. “Everybody was very disappointed.”

People have changed since the funding was discontinued, she said.

A lack of food, paired with overcrowding, leads to other issues.

“We have a wellness centre here, and kids were vandalizing and breaking in looking for food,” Kooneeliusie said.

The new federal budget doesn’t extend funding for the Inuit Child First Initiative beyond March 2026, but Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty indicated the program will be redefined and made permanent.

There has been no word on any possible reinstatement of the community-wide food voucher program.

Qikiqtarjuaq’s senior administrative officer Geena Kooneeliusie says the community is excited about construction starting on a new deepsea port.

School drop out rates

Every year, Qikiqtarjuaq has about 25 school students, but not every year will there be graduates.

“Every second or third year, we have two to four graduates,” said Kooneeliusie, who herself didn’t finish high school.

The high cost of living plays into the reasons for this, she explained, saying, “I had to start working to earn income.”

Qikiqtarjuaq port – something to be ‘ecstatic’ about

A $500-million deepsea port for the hamlet has been on the to-do list for a long time, and now construction could begin in summer with operations kicking off in 2030.

Construction is led by Qikiqtaaluk Corp., the business arm of Qikiqtani Inuit Association, and the project was designated as “nation-building” by the Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. and the Nunavut government.

“I’m actually ecstatic about it,” Kooneeliusie said. “The fact that it’s going to create job opportunities, that’s the part I’m really excited about.”

The new port is expected to bring businesses and jobs to the community where a majority of the population is unemployed, she said.

“We really love that they are coming here,” Kooneeliusie said.