NTI’s back in the money after recording debt last year
Inuit organization gets distribution of $92.9M from Nunavut Trust, more than double last year’s $44M payment
Gershom Moyo, right, chief financial officer for Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., says the organization’s $15.9-million surplus will be split and allocated to separate funds for operations and infrastructure. Seated to the left of Moyo is Matt Binder, NTI’s deputy chief financial officer. (File photo)
Updated on Tuesday, Sept. 9 at 5:30 p.m. ET
Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. is reporting a significant surplus this year, thanks to a higher annual distribution from the trust that helps fund the organization.
The Nunavut Trust was established as part of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement. Starting in 1993, the federal government paid $1.1 billion into it over a number of years, to be invested by trust managers to generate income for Nunavut beneficiaries.
It’s now worth about $2.0 billion.
A lower than expected annual distribution from the Trust last year left NTI with $4 million in debt.
But this year’s numbers are looking much better. The trust’s distribution to NTI is $92.9 million — more than double last year’s $44-million, said Moyo in an interview.
“In the past five years since 2019, we have had three years of surplus and two years of a deficit,” said Gershom Moyo, chief financial officer for NTI, describing the volatility of financial markets since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
NTI ended its most recent fiscal year with a $15.9-million surplus, after covering last year’s $4 million debt.
Here’s how the process works: At the start of each fiscal year, NTI submits its funding request to trust managers. Over the past few years, that’s worked out to about $75 million annually. NTI bases its operating budget on that number.
However, NTI doesn’t learn what its actual final distribution will be until the end of the fiscal year, based on the trust’s taxable income. That’s how it was left with the $4-million debt last year.
Moyo said NTI directors decided several years ago that in years when they received more money than they initially budgeted for, they would sock the surplus away rather than increase spending that year.
The Inuit organization will split the money evenly between two specially created funds called the operating fund and the strategic infrastructure fund.
The operating fund is essentially a rainy day fund — in the event the Nunavut Trust severely underperforms financially and falls far short of that year’s disbursement goal, the operating fund can be used to make up the shortfall. The operating fund is capped at $75 million and as of July 31 was valued at $42.5 million.
The strategic infrastructure fund is used to help fund infrastructure projects. It currently holds $27 million.
“One has to be mindful that in Nunavut, the responsibility for community infrastructure rests on the government,” Moyo said.
“However, NTI created this fund as an opportunity fund so that when we go to talk to the federal government and say, ‘Hey, we need infrastructure in Nunavut, we need ports and roads,’ we at least have demonstrated that we put our money where our mouths are.”
Moyo said both funds are invested and have had an annual return of between eight and 10 per cent.
Correction: This article has been updated for its originally published version to accurately report that NTI receives a distribution from the Nunavut Trust, to clarify NTI’s surplus was $15.9 million in the last fiscal hear, that the Nunavut Trust is worth about $2.0 billion.
You sold the land claims agreement as money and land for “your children’s children”. You are there now so time to start helping your benefiaries rather than trying to be a government?
NTI saying it’s “putting its money where its mouth is” is a joke.
No Local Investment: Nunavit Trust manages $2.4 billion, yet not a single dollar of that trust is invested in Nunavut other then the dividen payment to pay NTI salaries. Every cent is sitting in global markets making firms on Bay Street richer, instead of building up our own territory.
Hey Nunatsiaq here is a fee questions you should be asking:
How much in fees is NTI paying those firms to manage Inuit money? And why is none of that money actually invested here in Nunavut?
Who exactly is representing Inuit on the Trusts board making these decisions?
NTI keeps saying infrastructure isn’t their responsibility, yet they’re allowed to hoard $27 million in the bank for “strategic infrastructure.” If they’re taking all the resource revenue, why don’t they take any of the responsibility that comes with it?
At the end of the day, NTI is sitting on billions, outsourcing management, and calling it success. Meanwhile, Nunavut still doesn’t have the infrastructure it needs. That’s not “putting money where your mouth is”—that’s passing the buck to the GN.
what do you think Nunavut Trust is?
It’s an investment fund much like a pension fund. It doesn’t work like a make work project.
Public infrastructure is a public government responsibility; NTI is not a public government.
Nunatsiaq news, you should get the full picture of NTIs finances, did you look at their differed revenue? It’s nearing a billion dollars, all kinds of federal money for housing, infrastructure, training and education, year after year they keep differing funds and it’s growing and it’s just not getting out. All the while it has been impossible to get funding that we used to get under the federal government as today it’s channeled through NTI, IBC has been talking about this for a few years now and there’s other organizations that can’t get their funding.
You have to be friends with certain top staff to get your funding it seems as some companies are getting millions while others that should be getting their funding are not.
I do hope the new President will start making changes and start getting the funds out.
While the nominal value of the trust has increased, reality is the capital is hopelessly failing to keep up with inflation—as in, specifically, the cost of hamburger meat and housing.
There’s no point in paying tens of millions of dollars for inadequate management of the fund when, in any case, individual family needs and those of their next generations differ so widely. The trust should be split between families—like the Trudeau family trust.
Also, you may question why NTI even exists. It’s make-work and cronyism that duplicates governance in parallel with GN.
Leona worked at getting NTI lawsuit settled and were awarded 250 million dollars for training Inuit, that program should be explained, and as you can see in the picture not many Inuit there after 10 years .
A lot of that training funds seem to go to the kids and family members and friends of the people working there for hockey schools down south and to attend private schools.
Applying for this funding is difficult if you are not part of that inner circle, most times you do not hear back from them or you are given the run around.
Something is not right there and there does not seem to be any accountability at NTl.