Resolute Bay
Photo: Chelsea Britton
Overview
Photo: Chelsea Britton
A hamlet of 183 people (2021 census) in the Qikitaaluk region of Nunavut, Resolute Bay is the second northernmost community in Canada.
Resolute Bay is in the Central time zone along with Saskatchewan and Manitoba. It is a 4-hour and 40-minute flight from Iqaluit, with one stop in Arctic Bay. Iqaluit is a 3-hour and 15-minute flight from Ottawa.
Highlights
Resolute Bay is known as Qausuittuq in Inuktitut, which means the “place with no dawn” because of its long winter nights. The hamlet’s English name comes from the British ship, HMS Resolute, which was abandoned in 1850 while searching for the Northwest Passage.
The community was home to Joseph Idlout, who moved from Pond Inlet to Resolute Bay in 1955. He was a prominent Inuk hunter and subject of two National Film Board of Canada documentaries, Land of the Long Day and Between Two Worlds. Idlout was on the back of the Canadian two-dollar bill before it was replaced by the toonie coin in 1996.
Resolute Bay is the starting point for the Polar Race and the Polar Challenge, where teams race to the north magnetic pole.
Photo: Chelsea Britton
Weather and landscape
Located between the 74th and 75th parallels, Resolute Bay sees 24-hour daylight between late April and mid-August and 24-hour darkness from early November to early February.
Resolute Bay has a dry, polar climate with most snow falling between September and October. The average high temperature annually is -12.7°C and the average low is -18.6°C. The record low temperature recorded is -52.2°C in January 1966.
The area features a rocky terrain and coastal bluffs, as well as rolling hills and several small lakes in the surrounding area. Polar bears, beluga whales, seals, and walruses can be seen frequently in this community.
Photo: Chelsea Britton