Ottawa gives $70M over 10 years to Nunavik health board

The federal government and the Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services have signed a $70 million, 10-year funding contribution agreement to improve access to health services.

The contribution agreement, announced on Monday, is intended to ensure stable, long-term funding of health and social services for Nunavik residents, a release on the Sept. 9 agreement said.

The total budget of the health board stands at about $167 million.

“We are very aware that health and access to social services are essential to the well-being of Nunavik’s 14 Inuit communities,” said Seamus O’Regan, the minister of Indigenous services.

The funding agreement is also designed to provide greater autonomy to the health and social services board on how it manages the funding, the release said.

No details were immediately available about exactly what the health board will spend the money on.

But Minnie Grey, the executive director of the health board, said she was “very proud of this new agreement that will ensure both stability and flexibility for us in the use of federal funding.”

“Our teams succeeded in demonstrating the Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services’ capacity to manage and rigorously report on the use of funds intended for services to Nunavimmiut,” she said.