Ullivik could get major expansion as leaders discuss capacity issues

With Ullivik medical boarding home regularly over capacity, Inuulitsivik Health Centre is forced to spend millions of dollars on hotels rooms each year to accommodate the overflow, says general director Sarah Beaulne.

In 2024, she said, the health centre spent $9 million on hotel rooms.

Beaulne discussed plans to alleviate the problem with Nunavik leaders Thursday in Montreal during the three-day Nunavik all-organizations meeting.

Ullivik could get an expansion. The idea was discussed Thursday during the Nunavik all-organizations meeting in Montreal. (File photo by Cedric Gallant)

Ullivik provides accommodation for Inuit from Nunavik who travel south for health care in Montreal.

“We are trying to have quality services with a capital Q,” she said. “That is what we are working towards.”

Ullivik has 90 rooms and 143 beds. In 2024, it served 18,633 clients, including patients and escorts, who generated 100,767 overnight stays.

The building opened in 2016, when Nunavik’s population was around 13,000. The 2021 census reported a population of just over 14,000, reflecting growth of close to six per cent.

Rita Novalinga, Ullivik’s director, pointed out the boarding home was already too small by the time it opened.

“The next day, we had to start using hotel rooms,” she said.

“No wonder today it is too small to accommodate everyone.”

To that end, Nunavik health leaders are considering more than doubling Ullivik’s size to 188 rooms from the current 90 rooms.

In June 2024, Quebec’s Ministry of Health recognized this was a need, Beaulne said in her presentation.

But that may not be enough, said Novalinga. She pointed out there have been days where 600 people needed rooms.

Andy Moorehouse, Makivvik Corp.’s vice-president of economic development, agreed.

“We have to be concerned about these things, and look at what is not running right,” he said.

Three scenarios are being proposed: expanding the existing Ullivik infrastructure, building a satellite extension of Ullivik, or building a new Ullivik site altogether.

No decision has been made yet on which scenario will go forward.

In the meantime, health-care leaders are working to improve co-ordination between Ullivik and health-care providers. This project began in April 2025 and is expected to be fully implemented in December.

The Nunavik all-organizations meeting opened Tuesday and ended Thursday.