Immigrants a boon to Nunavut workforce, not a barrier, groups say
Labour groups counter MLA’s comments about immigrants taking jobs from Nunavummiut
Aivilik MLA Solomon Malliki suggested Tuesday in the legislative assembly that immigrants are “taking over” jobs that should be going to Nunavut Inuit. (Photo by Daron Letts)
Immigration doesn’t prevent Inuit from getting jobs, as one MLA suggested this week — it’s actually a benefit to Nunavut’s workforce, say organizations representing workers and jobseekers in the territory.
“Whether it’s in health care, education, construction, security, trade, government, or even tourism, they help fill critical gaps,” Francis Essebou, executive director of Carrefour Nunavut, said in an email to Nunatsiaq News on Thursday.
Perspectives offered by representatives of economic development agency Carrefour Nunavut and the Nunavut Employees Union contrast sharply with comments by Aivilik MLA Solomon Malliki this week.
In the legislative assembly Tuesday, Malliki suggested immigrants are “taking over” jobs that should go to Inuit workers.
“Immigrants help ensure the delivery of essential services, contribute to economic growth, and fill specialized roles that are difficult to staff locally,” said Essebou, who runs an Iqaluit-based French-language economic development agency.
A little more than three per cent of Nunavummiut, or 1,165 people, were foreign-born immigrants in 2021, according to the latest available Statistics Canada census data. Non-permanent residents numbered 75 in the same population survey.
According to the 2021 census, 240 immigrants arrived in Nunavut between 2016 and 2021, representing more than one-fifth of the territory’s total immigrant population.
The top three countries of birth among immigrants living in Nunavut in 2021 were the Philippines, the United States and Nigeria. Among recent immigrants living in Nunavut, countries of origin include the Philippines, India and Nigeria.
One cannot determine who is a foreign worker based on appearance, cautioned Jason Rochon, president of the Nunavut Employees Union.
“A significant number of our union members are racialized workers. However, they’re a combination of racialized Canadians from the south, from the other territories, and those who have recently immigrated to the country,” he said.
“Our union believes all workers, no matter where they come from, are important in building the local economy.”
Malliki clarified his position in an interview with Nunatsiaq News on Wednesday.
He suggested his constituents’ concerns over immigration represent a language issue, specifically some who told him they can’t understand educators and medical staff who speak in English with an accent that does not derive from French or Inuktitut.
“A few students came up to me saying that they don’t understand their teacher,” Malliki said. “And some medical clients came to me saying that they don’t understand what their nurse is telling them — what kind of illness they have — even though they have translators.”
According to a 2024 report by Statistics Canada, close to 95 per cent of workers surveyed in 2021 in Nunavut said they regularly spoke English at work. More than 40 per cent of survey respondents said they regularly used Inuktut at work.
Among Inuit workers, more than 40 per cent spoke Inuktut most often at work, either alone or together with another language.
Workers from different cultural traditions enrich the workplace, Rochon said.
“Diverse backgrounds help build a diverse workforce, creating opportunities for collaboration, for understanding and for better efforts at decolonizing the workplace,” he said.
Canada hates publicly releasing racial data, but I’m sure the data exists.
What level of education do most immigrants have vs non-immigrants? How efficient are immigrants at their jobs vs non-immigrants? How many “sick” days do immigrants take vs non-immigrants?
Until the data is out, all we can do is speculate and stereotype.
The hardest working people I know in Nunavut are immigrants and migrants from other parts of Canada, and it is not even close. Without them Nunavut would cease to function, and we all know it.
Look back at previous things this fellow has said at the legislature. Many times blatant lies, or simply shooting from the hip with zero evidence to back it up. Time for him to do some research prior to speaking as what he says is often damaging to many, and filled with hatred and discontent. Not what Nunavut needs.
As you would certainly find if you took an inventory, there are far more jobs in Nunavut than there are able-bodied Inuit of employment age. So why is it necessary to import outsiders?
Answer: Not enough Inuit have the necessary education and skills training. Why not after all these years of self-government?
Trying to justify immigration on the basis of economics and boon says much about ignorance of the real threat to culture. To be not against immigration but to lay guidelines for entering the territory is very important. Here we are battling for indigenous rights and freedoms, only to be taken away from it due to focus on immigration rights and freedoms that does little to harmonize all people. Immigrants must go by the rules like everyone should. And it needs to be strictly applied. They should be taught about inuit life and struggles
Inuit and immigrants – especially people from South American, Caribbean, and African Countries – have far more in common than you think. Wanna take a guess as to why?
there are indeed lots of immigrants (non-Nunavumiut) working for GN that i have an extremely difficult time understanding. Strange thing is that they think their english is perfectly fine; but its not. And this is especially worrisome for the students of those educators, or the clients of those public servants, or the patients of those healthcare professionals.
Nobody wants to work because their welfare amount will get affected they rather take the bare minimum and live with it
You talk like Nunavut is the only place people are on welfare
Hate to burst your bubble people in the south get welfare are they lazy and not want to work that you claim Nunavut is like that
Do you have proof that Nunavut Inuit don’t want to work
Or are you confused with the white washing with this folks
While you are right that Nunavut isn’t the only place with people on welfare, it is a place in which enables its people to remain on welfare as it is the better and easiest option for people. For example, someone on welfare gets funds for food without having to work for it, gets next to free housing at $60/month (which comes out of their welfare funds), isn’t responsible for utilities and gets to do whatever they want with their free time. Whereas, someone not on welfare, has to pay for rent, utilities, only has free time after work if they don’t work multiple jobs to keep up with the food, rent and utility costs in Nunavut.
Which is the better option?
Approximately 5% of Canadians are on welfare, in Nunavut that is about 27%
Do you want a quantitative difference is? Now you do…
Are gn and election nunavut able to make sure mlas are inuit and has inuit beneficiary card? Inuit beneficiaries are not looked into by workforce and would like to see inuit with brown skin as mlas.
Can you show me the section in the Elections Act where it says that candidates must be NLCA beneficiaries? I’ll wait 🍿
My stomach is making noise from this topic
The problem arises when a person cannot even speak , spell, or write in their own language. Let alone to know if another person is speaking proper English, for example . That’s when you have a problem understanding what the other person is saying. Being intelligent in your own language really helps.
This member should retract his statement and apologize. These comets should not be allowed in the peoples house of Nunavut. I can not speak for his fellow MLA’s. I believe they are much more enlightened. And do not feel the same way.
It sounds like people are saying, “there’s to many black people,” and that their, “accents are to strong to understand” ??? Excuse me for saying it but that’s kind-of what I hear in-between the line… could be wrong though…
That’s exactly what is going on and what the MLA was really saying.
If Nunavutmiut want these jobs what’s stopping them? Only themselves! Lack of education, lack of motivation, social issues, and the list goes on. It’s usually the people who are saying jobs are being taken from them are the ones who either don’t work, or don’t want to! Fellow Inuit, we need to do better! I did and so can you! Get educated, get motivated, teach your children there is a future for them by showing them what their potential can accomplish. Break the cycle. Either be proactive to apply on those positions or stop complaining! Someone has to do the job!
I don’t think it’s really about job lost that concerns those that are concerned about immigration overload. Maybe the word overload is appropriate to make the point. We all know it’s not politically correct to say any thing negative about immigration to start with. There the whole debate is hot topic. But for real, immigration in my opinion has become a concerning issue. It’s the way mass immigration has taken over any sensible flow of people coming in on the life of other people. Yes I know that’s our life story in the north from the beginning of the century or longer. Let’s just be open minded and accept that we need discussion and more thinking into how immigration is impacted and continue to impact our society and the real meaning of it. Take a look around and tell me that you really understand this sudden influx and seeing all the different races of people going and flowing everywhere in the country. No place, not unless something different down in James bay Cree land , but most places in our countryside is saturated with many different races of people just coming and coming, and from very unknown backgrounds and why? No explanation as to what it all means, because no one knows what it means. Concern must be implemented. At least the powers to be hold the population more space to be part of the decision, and allow the people that live here to be informed.
Thank you MLA Solomon Malliki for shedding light on this issue. Changes definitely need to be made in order to safe gaurd future inuit jobs. Maybe make all new GN positions term positions until Nunavut Inuit come up to speed and more enter the workforce. And it would be nice of NTI would kick in some contribution for training and mentorship. Thanks for watching out for Inuit; we need more like you.
Yeah lets make all Gn jobs term jobs for non-inuit. What a dumb racist comment. Toronto went from being about 20% foreign-born in the 2000s to over 50% foreign born now. Who knows maybe nunavut is next eh?
The GN and NTI already do that. There are also jobs in the GN classified as Inuit Only.
Nunavut is part of Canada. All citizens and permanent residents are welcome to live and work here. If they weren’t, health centers would shut down. Schools would close.
Fast forward, ahead of time. We’ll be immigrating to some foreign country in the far east or Europe somewhere. People will be getting away from wars and strife, that would be just what people are getting away from now, a break for peace for a hundred years or less.
Maybe so, as Nunavut land claim beneficiary we are on our birth ground and we did not ask to be part of Canada, our land was stolen and we are treated underdog.
Our birth right our land our way and everyone else who do not agree the airport is there.
To bad the Russians didnt colonize the north eh, or even the Americans? Except, they dont use the term colonze like we do, they say “conquered”
Except it is now part of Canada. However no one is stopping you to build a sod house/igloo on the land and live as it was of your ancestors. Hunt and fish all you want but with not with guns or fishing rod you got from cabelas.
If Inuit did not ask to be a part of Canada, then why did they initiate negotiations with Canada for the NLCA…
You did chose, there was a process of ratifying that NLCA which included a plebiscite on this very question.
Why are you so ignorant?
First of all, everyone who is saying no one wants to work, are not Inuit Simple someone who do not understand that there is a very serious discrimination here in Nunavut. A very serious discrimination where us Inuit are treated like we do not understand and where most not all but most Non Inuit talks to us Inuit as if we are stupid.
I have Grade 12 and certified in Computers and office management and yet I have to argue to make non Inuit understand i had a good head on my shoulders and here I am treated like i have only grade 6 under my belt.
soon us Inuit will make a stand, make a stand to the Dominate society and say enough is enough.
True Nunavutmiuta
“Certified in computers”.
Oh?
Skilled immigration is great.
What won’t be so good for Nunavut youth is when immigrants take every Quickstop job.
Exactly this! This is also true all over Canada. I remembered many many years ago seeing youth at these entry level foodservice job. But now immigrants are taking over these jobs as their 2nd, 3rd job and leaving the youth in the dust. A lot of youth cannot find summer employment for the very simple reason that these places that usually hire youth don’t anymore. There is more at play, yes. This is very stark down south and getting very visible in Nunavut as well.
It’s an important conversation to have. And priorizing Inuit is a must in Nunavut. That said, it cannot be done in such a way that people who are not equipped to do the job at all get in the job. There needs to be a balance between priorizing Inuit and ensuring that the job gets done. Nobody wins if an Inuk is hired to a position where they will feel like they are failing all the time. That’s why the system is supposed to work the way it does: first, they look at the pile of resumes from Inuit, and if nobody is remotely qualified, they look at the other resumes.
The current emphasis on developing training programs to take Inuit from no knowledge to a theoretical foundation for different types of jobs and the mentoring programs to help them gain good experience are the way to go. Inuit should makeup the bulk of the public servants. But we need to make sure that the government works. Nobody wants to receive healthcare services from someone who wasn’t trained as a healthcare worker, right?
Regarding protecting the culture, I believe that any new resident to the territory should follow a mandatory set of classes about the culture and language. If not possible for all, at the very least, new public servants should have to go through a reflective process over multiple weeks to ensure they understand where they are, who they serve, and start absorbing some of the local values as well. We cannot expect people to magically understand everything if we don’t give them the means to integrate well.
There is, however, a question to ask about the rhythm of new arrivals to the territory, immigrants or Canadian migrants. I can understand the fear of the local culture being lost. I think that as the rhythm increases like this, we can ask for more integration programs to be put in place. Even just communication campaigns to encourage newcomers to participate in community events, to learn the language, etc, would go a long way by telling newcomers that we expect them to make the effort to learn and that we give them the resources to do so. This can be done respectfully and benefit all.
People talking about immigrants taking jobs , what about key political positions? Like councillors, mayors, premier? What potential to change the landscape in a few short years. Thats the reality of immigration. Not to say im against or for a big new influx of people, but it has a consequence that will change life for people that live here.
If they are elected, is that not the will of the people in their constituencies? What is the problem?