Cape DorsetNunavut
With 1,600 residents, it is a town in Nunavut. It belongs to the Territories (outside CAs, Nvt.) / Territoires (à l'extérieur des AR, Nt) metropolitan area.
Is Cape Dorset a good place to live?
Where it does best is hazard risk (A+). Fewer journeys need a car (A). Its weakest subject is health (D−). The typical owner put their home at $166,000 in 2021: 1.9 years of the median household’s income. It also trails on safety (D−).
Figures: home values and income: Statistics Canada, Census 2021. Cape Dorset has subject grades but no overall grade: Canadian towns get one from 2,500 residents.
This town's rent is the 2021 census rent scaled to 2025 by its province's ratio of surveyed to census rents: no rental survey covers it, so its Cost Grade is less sure. No Cost Grade: fewer than 30% of households own their home here, so neither the home value nor the rent is a market price. Safety is the police detachment's figure, shared with the towns and countryside around it. No School Grade: this province doesn't publish comparable results school by school. Health is graded on the health region's survey figures and life expectancy, with the distance to hospital giving the town its own spread.
How Cape Dorset grades
Each subject compares Cape Dorset with Canadian towns of 2,500 or more, ordered by how far it is from the middle. Towns in other countries are graded separately.
Cape Dorset has subject grades but no overall grade: Canadian towns get one from 2,500 residents.
How TownRatings grades Canadian towns →
What makes Cape Dorset stand out
The 3 things Cape Dorset does most differently from other towns.
The data
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Cape Dorset.
Home ownership in Cape Dorset, 11%, runs below Canadian towns
A year’s rent came to 3% of the median household income, lower than Canadian towns (20%).
What homes were worth · The median owner’s estimate at the 2021 census
| Census 2021 | Cape Dorset | Nunavut | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rent as a share of income | 3% | – | 20% |
| Households owning their home | 11% | – | 74% |
| Households spending 30%+ on shelter | 3% | – | 18% |
| Median home value, 2021 | $166,000 | – | $406,000 |
Statistics Canada, Census 2021; CMHC Rental Market Survey via Statistics Canada · The 2021 census asked owners what their home was worth; those values, and 2020 incomes, are what this compares.
Cape Dorset faces fewer hazards than almost every Canadian town
Earthquakes matter little: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.004 a year per $1,000 of value, against $0.030 for the typical town. No one has filed a flood map for Cape Dorset on the national inventory.
Radon tests above the guideline · share of tested homes, 200 Bq/m³
| Hazards | Cape Dorset | Nunavut | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Radon tests above the guideline | 0% | – | 6.6% |
| Earthquake loss per $1,000 of buildings a year | $0.004 | – | $0.030 |
NRCan seismic risk model and burned areas, Health Canada radon survey, the Flood Hazard Map Inventory
Cape Dorset scores below almost every Canadian town for health
The three chronic conditions the survey tracks average 20% of adults, higher than Canadian towns (17%). On self-rated health the region tracks the province: 39% very good or excellent, 39% for Nunavut. What’s more, life expectancy in the region is 70.9 years (72.4 for women, 69.4 for men, 2022/2024). Closer to home, a hospital is 395 km from the average resident of Cape Dorset, and 100% live more than 30 km away.
Very good or excellent health · adults, age-standardised
| Health | Cape Dorset | Nunavut | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Very good or excellent health | 39% | – | 52% |
| Smokers | 63% | – | 12% |
| Life expectancy at birth | 70.9 | – | 81.5 |
| Chronic conditions (average share) | 20% | – | 17% |
Statistics Canada, Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 and life expectancy 2022/2024; Open Database of Healthcare Facilities · Area behind the health survey and life expectancy figures: the Nunavut health region
Violent crime weighs more where Cape Dorset is policed than in Canadian towns: a violent severity index of 1,172
Thefts, break-ins and damage add up to 410.4 per 1,000 residents a year where it is policed. Violent incidents in its police area came to 256.5 per 1,000 residents a year, above Canadian towns (12).
Year by year · Crime Severity Index for each year
| 2023–2025 | Cape Dorset | Nunavut | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crime Severity Index | 664 | – | 67 |
| Violent Crime Severity Index | 1,172 | – | 86 |
| Violent crime | 256.5 | – | 12 |
| Property crime per 1,000 | 410.4 | – | 31.2 |
Statistics Canada, Uniform Crime Reporting Survey, 2023–2025 average · Crime Severity Index, Violent Crime Severity Index, violent crime and property crime per 1,000: the Cape Dorset detachment area
More of Cape Dorset’s residents have an Indigenous identity than in Canadian towns: 96%
Visible minorities make up 1.1% of the population, below Canadian towns (15%).
Ages · Share of residents in each age group, Census 2021
Schooling · Highest qualification, residents 15 and over
Women and men · all residents
Women make up 48.4% of Cape Dorset
Of the 2021 count, 675 were women and 720 men (women across Canada: 50.9%).
| Cape Dorset | Nunavut | Canada | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 38% | – | 16% |
| 15 to 64 | 59% | – | 64% |
| 65+ | 3.9% | – | 19% |
| No certificate, diploma or degree | 58% | – | 16% |
| Postsecondary qualification | 27% | – | 56% |
Statistics Canada, Census 2021; Nunavut and Canada: medians of towns of 2,500+
Cape Dorset’s teenagers travel 207 km to the nearest high school
| School | Level | Students | System |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peter Pitseolak High SchoolIn Cape DorsetElementary | Elementary | – | English public |
| Schools within 3 km | Cape Dorset | Nunavut | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nearest secondary school | 207 km | – | 1.2 km |
| Nearest elementary school | 207 km | – | 0.5 km |
Statistics Canada’s Open Database of Educational Facilities · Schools grade in Nunavut: none (the province publishes no results school by school).
Cape Dorset has cooler summers than Canadian towns: July highs of 12.1°C
For the wettest month, look to August: 57 mm on average. The thermometer drops below freezing on 273 days a year, above Canadian towns (159). Expect January lows of around −26.3°C in Cape Dorset.
Average high by season · ECCC normals, 1991–2020
| Normals, 1991–2020 | Cape Dorset | Nunavut | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| July afternoon high | 12.1°C | – | 25.5°C |
| Days with frost a year | 273 | – | 159 |
| January night low | −26.3°C | – | −13.5°C |
| Precipitation a year | 413 mm | – | 883 mm |
Environment and Climate Change Canada, Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Kinngait/Cape Dorset)
Commuters in Cape Dorset have a short way to work, 10 min on average, less than in Canadian towns
How working residents got to work · census 2021
| Census 2021 | Cape Dorset | Nunavut | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip | 10 min | – | 26 min |
Statistics Canada, Census 2021 (labour and commuting) · The 2021 census was taken in May 2021, during COVID-19 restrictions: more people than usual worked from home or were off work.
Expect November days around −7°C in Cape Dorset, nights around −12°C
Hour-by-hour figures come from ECCC’s Kinngait forecast, on the Weather page. November normally sees 37 mm of precipitation. Looking ahead to December, expect highs near −14°C and lows near −20°C.
Normal highs, the months ahead · ECCC normals, 1991–2020
| Season | High | Low | Rain and snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winter | −19°C | −24°C | 66 mm |
| Spring | −10°C | −16°C | 80 mm |
| Summer | 9°C | 3°C | 130 mm |
| Autumn | −1°C | −5°C | 138 mm |
ECCC normals, 1991–2020 (Kinngait/Cape Dorset); the forecast is on the Weather page
Fewer of Nunavut voted in 2021 than in most ridings: 34%, behind 99%
Federally, Cape Dorset sits in Nunavut, its riding (a federal electoral district, which elects one MP), held by Lori Idlout of the Liberal Party of Canada.
Wikidata, MAMH, MMAH, Statistics Canada
No public library is mapped in or near Cape Dorset
Library statistics aren’t published openly in Nunavut, so there are no visit or loan figures for Cape Dorset.
Provincial library statistics, OpenStreetMap, the CRA and Statistics Canada
Parks and protected land around Cape Dorset
There is one protected area within 10 km. Within 100 km there is no national park. Protected areas cover 3.9% of the land within 10 km; for the typical Canadian town it is 2.3%.
Protected land · of the land within 10 km
| Outdoors | Cape Dorset | Nunavut | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protected land within 10 km | 3.9% | – | 2.3% |
| Public protected areas within 10 km | 0 | – | 4 |
Canadian Protected and Conserved Areas Database (CPCAD), OpenStreetMap routes and beaches
Everything we know about Cape Dorset
Famous people from Cape Dorset
8 notable people were born in Cape Dorset.
About Cape Dorset
Town in Nunavut
For Cape Dorset, TownRatings uses Statistics Canada’s census-subdivision boundary in Nunavut, and every figure on its pages covers that whole area.
Statistics Canada: population estimates 2025 (17-10-0155), Census of Population 2021, 2021 census boundaries.
- Population
- 1,600 (people, 2025 estimate)
- Province or territory
- Nunavut
- Census division
- Qikiqtaaluk
- Metro area
- Territories (outside CAs, Nvt.) / Territoires (à l'extérieur des AR, Nt)
- Census subdivision
- 6204007
Questions about Cape Dorset
How old are the people of Cape Dorset?
23.2 is the median age, 45.2 the median among Canadian towns; 4% of residents are 65 or over and 38% under 15.
What kind of homes are in Cape Dorset?
Mostly 47% single-detached houses (the median of Canadian towns: 64%), with 0% of homes in buildings of five or more storeys. Households hold 3.9 people on average, and 25% have just one.
Has Cape Dorset grown?
It went from 1,441 people in 2016 to 1,396 in 2021, down 3.1%, while the median of Canadian towns grew 4.1%. StatCan’s 2025 estimate is 1,600.
Sources: Statistics Canada, Census of Population 2021 · population estimates 2025 (17-10-0155) and 2021 census boundaries · Uniform Crime Reporting Survey 2023–25 (35-10-0026, 35-10-0183 to 35-10-0190) · CMHC rents as published by Statistics Canada (34-10-0133) · grades by TownRatings. Under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).