Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK) is looking to minimize socieconomic gaps between Inuit and non-Indigenous Canadians with a new poverty reduction strategy. The plan was unveiled Tuesday at the organization's headquarters in Ottawa.
Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami is looking to minimize socieconomic gaps between Inuit and non-Indigenous Canadians with a new poverty reduction strategy. The plan was unveiled Tuesday at the organization's headquarters in Ottawa.
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results. Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami president Natan Obed introduced the organization's Inuit Nunangat Poverty Reduction Strategy in Ottawa on Tuesday.
The strategy looks to close socioeconomic gaps across the region using Inuit-centred approaches to education, cost of living and social services. Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami is looking to minimize socieconomic gaps between Inuit and non-Indigenous Canadians with a new poverty reduction strategy. The document, released Tuesday in Ottawa, cites 2023 Statistics Canada data suggesting that 41 per cent of Inuit families lived below the poverty line, compared to 11 per cent of Canadians overall.
ITK's president, Natan Obed, says a key principle ingrained in the new strategy is the idea of creating "whole" people, with all aspects of life being inter-connected.
"We know that people want to be contributing members of society, they want to have connections with family, they want to be able to teach the things that they know so that there is intergenerational succession of Inuit knowledge," Obed said. "The data that goes into a poverty statement is only partially complete for you, meaning that it isn't just about how much people make or how expensive things are to buy.
"Increasing economic participation through the creation of a sustainable financial foundation for Inuit. Supporting Inuit-centred social services and community infrastructure. Speaking at a news conference with Obed on Tuesday, Rebecca Alty, Canada's Crown-Indigenous Relations minister, said the strategy "reflects the knowledge, experience and leadership from across Inuit Nunangat.
"The strategy cites Statistics Canada data from 2021 and 2022 that shows 47 per cent of Inuit lived in overcrowded housing, 58 percent had not completed high school, and 68 per cent of children faced food insecurity. To address these gaps, the strategy includes a broad action plan including the development of a federal Inuit Nunangat education policy, implementing youth mentorship programs promoting Inuit self-determination, and advocating for comprehensive wraparound social programming.
To outline the severity of poverty, ITK also included a Inuit Nunangat-specific market basket measure. Based off similar ones from Statistics Canada, it works to show the costs of goods and services needed for one person to achieve a basic standard of living. To date, there has not been one specifically made for Inuit Nunangat.
Nunavummiut want to see next territorial government address high cost of food "Within that measure, there are things that you wouldn't find in the south, such as costs and operational maintenance for Ski-Doos, or for ATVs or for boats, which may be luxury items for people in southern Canada but are essential for us to be able to access our traditional activities on the land," Obed said. The Inuit Nunangat measure shows that the annual cost of living for a family of four in the region in 2025 was $81,429.
This tally was roughly $20,000 more than the total for a family living in Toronto or Ottawa in the same year, according to Obed pointed to the fact that many groceries, along with goods and services such as building supplies or vehicles, arrive in communities only once or twice a year on annual sealifts, further driving up costs. At Tuesday's unveiling, Obed welcomed the opportunity to work with the federal government to implement the strategy, while federal ministers highlighted the cooperative work already underway.
"These are the initiatives that we need to keep building on because they support self-determination, they support maintaining culture," said Rebecca Chartrand, Canada's northern and Arctic affairs minister. One program in particular, currently under revision to meet Inuit needs, is the Nutrition North food subsidy program.
Communities across Inuit Nunangat have"One of the things that I think needs to be stated over and over, and what we need to understand, is that some of the poorest people in our country are paying the most for food," Chartrand said. A grocery store in Iqaluit. Communities across Inuit Nunangat have long expressed concerns that the Nutrition North food subsidy program isn't doing enough to keep grocery prices down.
As part of the poverty reduction strategy, ITK also proposed an Inuit-led framework to replace the program, including subsidizing food freight and transportation costs instead of retailers, and regulations on food prices.
"Largely, we want to ensure that if there is a dollar spent on ensuring that people have healthy, nutritious food, that it is done well and that it goes to those who need it the most," Obed said. Liam Baker is a journalist for CBC Ottawa. He also reports and produces stories for CBC Windsor, and on Inuit Nunangat for CBC Iqaluit. Previously, he's reported for CBC Yukon, CBC Thunder Bay, and CBC Toronto's Enterprise unit. You can reach him at liam.baker@cbc.ca
Please follow us on Google to support us Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Inuit group calls for scrapping of Nutrition North food subsidy programInuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK) has released a poverty reduction strategy that calls for the elimination of the federal government's Nutrition North program, saying it fails to improve food security in Inuit Nunangat. The organization wants a new program exclusively for Inuit households with greater transparency and accountability, as well as support for locally-owned food retailers and community-led initiatives.
Read more »
Inuit group calls for overhaul of Nutrition North, poverty reduction frameworksOTTAWA — The organization representing Inuit in Canada says the federal government program meant to subsidize the high cost of food in the region, isn't working and should be scrapped.
Read more »
Inuit group calls for overhaul of Nutrition North, poverty reduction frameworksOTTAWA — The organization representing Inuit in Canada says the federal government program meant to subsidize the high cost of food in the region, isn't working and should be scrapped.
Read more »