More suicide, less education, slower internet: A look at Nunavut’s infrastructure gap

A report commissioned by Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., the land-claim organization that represents Inuit in the territory, outlines ways in which the region falls behind the rest of Canada. Here are some of the highlights:  

— Nunavut has the fewest hospital beds per capita in the country, with 1,095 residents per bed compared with a national average of 409 per bed.

— Two in five homes in Nunavut are in need of major repairs; that’s six times the national average.

— The cost to operate and maintain drinking water infrastructure in Nunavut is 10 times the Canadian average.

— Thirty-five per cent of homes in Nunavut are overcrowded compared with five per cent nationally.

— Nunavummiut face a food insecurity rate of 58 per cent compared with 13 per cent across Canada. 

— Nunavut’s suicide rate is five times higher than the national average.

— Nunavut residents are the least likely in Canada to have a regular health-care provider — about 14 per cent compared with almost 85 per cent nationally.

— More than 39 per cent of Nunavummiut between the ages of 20 and 24 are not in post-secondary education versus seven per cent nationally.

— Nunavut is the only province or territory that relies completely on satellite internet, so the fastest possible download speed is 15 megabits per second compared with 50 megabits nationally.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2020.

—This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship

The Canadian Press