Igloolik

Photo: Veronica Quassa

Overview

Igloolik is located in the Qikiqtaaluk region of Nunavut on Igloolik Island, in Foxe Basin near the Melville Peninsula.

One of Nunavut’s larger communities (2,049 people according to the 2021 census), Igloolik shares the Eastern Standard time zone with Iqaluit and most of Ontario and Quebec. Getting to Igloolik from the south involves a 3-hour and 15-minute flight from Ottawa to Iqaluit followed by a 2-hour flight from Iqaluit to Igloolik.

Highlights

The name "Igloolik" means "there is a house here." Igloolik is often referred to as the geographic centre of Nunavut, and it is also considered the cultural hub of Nunavut. Igloolik sculptures have much in common, stylistically, with those of Pangnirtung. In 2016, Igloolik hosted a four-day festival called Kiss the Earth, designed to increase awareness about climate change in the North while simultaneously raising money to help alleviate local food insecurity.

Igloolik is home to Artcirq, the only Inuit circus troupe in the world, that performed during the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. Each summer the hamlet hosts the Rockin’ Walrus Arts Festival of music, dance, acrobatic and theatrical performances. It has two video production companies that specialize in Inuit cultural programming.

Renowned film director Zacharias Kunuk is from Igloolik. The film, Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner, filmed in Igloolik, won the prestigious Caméra d’Or award at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival.

Photo: Juanita MacEachern

Weather and landscape

Igloolik is located near the 69th parallel and has a polar climate. During the summer months, the community sees 24-hour sunshine; from the end of November to mid-January, there is no sun.

Summer temperatures in Igloolik can range from 8°C to 15°C. Winter temperatures hover around -30°C, but in January the temperature can sometimes feel like -50°C with the extreme wind chill. By November, regular snowfalls begin and the sea ice forms.

Igloolik has rocky, flat- topped hills, called buttes, joined by lowland plains where a low bedrock outcrop is partly covered by old, raised beaches. Bedrock can be seen along the cliffs above the hamlet.

Photo: Juanita MacEachern