IqaluitNunavut
A town of 8,612 in Nunavut. It is part of the Territories (outside CAs, Nvt.) / Territoires (à l'extérieur des AR, Nt) metro area.
Is Iqaluit a good place to live?
Iqaluit’s strongest subject is hazard risk (A+). Work and incomes are strong (A+). Where it falls short is safety (D−). Owners valued their homes at a median $600,000 in 2021, which is 3.8 years of the typical household’s pay. It lags on health as well (D).
Figures: home values and income: Statistics Canada, Census 2021. Iqaluit has no overall grade because cost of living isn’t graded here.
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 Iqaluit grades
Each subject compares Iqaluit with Canadian towns of 2,500 or more, ordered by how far it is from the middle. Towns in other countries are graded separately.
Iqaluit has no overall grade because cost of living isn’t graded here.
How TownRatings grades Canadian towns →
What makes Iqaluit stand out
The 3 things Iqaluit does most differently from other towns.
The data
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Iqaluit.
Few places are as safe from hazards as Iqaluit: it beats almost every Canadian town
Shaking is less of a worry than in most places, at $0.007 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). No one has filed a flood map for Iqaluit on the national inventory.
Radon tests above the guideline · share of tested homes, 200 Bq/m³
| Hazards | Iqaluit | Nunavut | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Radon tests above the guideline | 0% | – | 6.6% |
| Earthquake loss per $1,000 of buildings a year | $0.007 | – | $0.030 |
NRCan seismic risk model and burned areas, Health Canada radon survey, the Flood Hazard Map Inventory
Violent crime weighs more where Iqaluit is policed than in Canadian towns: a violent severity index of 844
Source area for Crime Severity Index, Violent Crime Severity Index, violent crime and property crime per 1,000: the Iqaluit detachment area
Its police area records 485.4 property incidents per 1,000 residents a year. The index for the force that serves it came to 661, higher than Canadian towns (67). On top of that, violent crime in the area its police cover: 166.3 per 1,000 people a year.
Year by year · Crime Severity Index for each year
| 2023–2025 | Iqaluit | Nunavut | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crime Severity Index | 661 | – | 67 |
| Violent Crime Severity Index | 844 | – | 86 |
| Violent crime | 166.3 | – | 12 |
| Property crime per 1,000 | 485.4 | – | 31.2 |
Statistics Canada, Uniform Crime Reporting Survey, 2023–2025 average
Commuters in Iqaluit have a short way to work, 10 min on average, less than in Canadian towns
The car took 75% of commuters, below Canadian towns (89%).
How working residents got to work · census 2021
| Census 2021 | Iqaluit | Nunavut | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip | 10 min | – | 26 min |
| Car or van | 75% | – | 89% |
Statistics Canada, Census 2021 (labour and commuting) · Census day was in May 2021, mid-pandemic, so commuting and work figures carry the lockdowns’ mark.
The nearest high school to Iqaluit is 289 km away
One school here teaches in French; in Nunavut, 2% of schools do.
| School | Level | Students | System |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aqsarniit Middle SchoolIn IqaluitElementary | Elementary | – | English public |
| École des trois soleil FrenchTeaches in FrenchElementary | Elementary | – | French public |
Schools by system · Schools within 3 km
| Schools within 3 km | Iqaluit | Nunavut | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nearest secondary school | 289 km | – | 1.2 km |
| Nearest elementary school | 289 km | – | 0.5 km |
Statistics Canada’s Open Database of Educational Facilities · Towns in Nunavut aren’t in the schools rankings: the province publishes no results school by school.
Iqaluit has colder winters than Canadian towns: January lows of −29.9°C
July afternoons in Iqaluit average 12.0°C. Frost comes on 261 days a year, above Canadian towns (159). Gardeners get 78 frost-free days, from 18 June to 5 September. Snow peaks in December: 29 cm in a normal year.
Average high by season · ECCC normals, 1991–2020
| Normals, 1991–2020 | Iqaluit | Nunavut | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| July afternoon high | 12.0°C | – | 25.5°C |
| January night low | −29.9°C | – | −13.5°C |
| Days with frost a year | 261 | – | 159 |
| Precipitation a year | 361 mm | – | 883 mm |
Environment and Climate Change Canada, Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Iqaluit)
People in Iqaluit’s health region live to 70.9 on average, 10.6 years short of the typical Canadian town
Closer to home, a hospital is just 0.8 km from the average resident of Iqaluit, nearer than the usual 3.7 km. 63% of adults smoke, daily or now and then, higher than Canadian towns (12%). Across the region, 39% of adults say their health is very good or excellent, much as in Nunavut (39%).
Very good or excellent health · adults, age-standardised
| Health | Iqaluit | 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 · Health survey and life expectancy: one figure for all of the Nunavut health region
More of Iqaluit’s residents have an Indigenous identity than in Canadian towns: 56%
Immigrants make up one in ten residents, above Canadian towns (6.4%). Just over one in ten residents belong to a visible minority, lower than 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
49.8% of Iqaluit’s residents are women
Here the census found 3,730 men and 3,695 women; the figure for women across Canada is 50.9%.
| Iqaluit | Nunavut | Canada | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 24% | – | 16% |
| 15 to 64 | 73% | – | 64% |
| 65+ | 3.7% | – | 19% |
| No certificate, diploma or degree | 24% | – | 16% |
| Postsecondary qualification | 54% | – | 56% |
Statistics Canada, Census 2021; Nunavut and Canada: medians of towns of 2,500+
Renting in Iqaluit costs 16% of household income, less than in Canadian towns
Shelter took 30% or more of income for 10% of households, below Canadian towns (18%).
What homes were worth · The median owner’s estimate at the 2021 census
| Census 2021 | Iqaluit | Nunavut | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households spending 30%+ on shelter | 10% | – | 18% |
| Rent as a share of income | 16% | – | 20% |
| Median home value, 2021 | $600,000 | – | $406,000 |
Statistics Canada, Census 2021; CMHC Rental Market Survey via Statistics Canada · Home values are owners’ own estimates at the May 2021 census, and incomes are for 2020.
Iqaluit in November: highs near −8°C, lows near −15°C
Snow is normal by November, about 26 cm over the month. Into December, the normals move to −15°C and −23°C. A normal November brings 19 mm of rain and snow. Hour-by-hour figures come from ECCC’s Iqaluit forecast, on the Weather page.
Normal highs, the months ahead · ECCC normals, 1991–2020
| Season | High | Low | Rain and snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winter | −20°C | −28°C | 47 mm |
| Spring | −9°C | −17°C | 65 mm |
| Summer | 10°C | 3°C | 150 mm |
| Autumn | −1°C | −7°C | 100 mm |
ECCC normals, 1991–2020 (Iqaluit); the forecast is on the Weather page
Only 34% of electors voted in Nunavut in 2021, fewer than in 99% of Canada’s ridings
Iqaluit is a city by Statistics Canada’s count of municipalities.
Wikidata, MAMH, MMAH, Statistics Canada
Iqaluit’s public library is Iqaluit Centennial Library
It stands 0.9 km from the centre of Iqaluit.
Provincial library statistics, OpenStreetMap, the CRA and Statistics Canada
The outdoors around Iqaluit
The nearest national park is more than 100 km away. CPCAD lists 2 protected areas within 10 km. Out to 10 km from the town’s edge, 6.1% of the land is protected; 2.3% is typical for a Canadian town. 11% of the town lies within a protected area.
Protected land · of the land within 10 km
| Outdoors | Iqaluit | Nunavut | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protected land within 10 km | 6.1% | – | 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 Iqaluit
Famous people from Iqaluit
12 notable people were born in Iqaluit.
Photo credits
Alethea Arnaquq-Baril: Aarnaquq, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Madeleine Redfern: Halifax International Security Forum, CC BY-SA 2.0
About Iqaluit
Town in Nunavut
TownRatings follows Statistics Canada’s map: Iqaluit is one municipality in Nunavut, figures and all.
Statistics Canada: population estimates 2025 (17-10-0155), Census of Population 2021, 2021 census boundaries.
- Population
- 8,612 (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
- 6204003
Questions about Iqaluit
What kind of homes are in Iqaluit?
Mostly 26% single-detached houses (the median of Canadian towns: 64%), with 4% of homes in buildings of five or more storeys. Households hold 2.7 people on average, and 27% have just one.
Is Iqaluit a young town or an old one?
Half its people are older than 32.8 (the middle of Canadian towns: 45.2); children under 15 make up 24%, people 65 and over 4%.
Has Iqaluit grown?
It went from 7,740 people in 2016 to 7,429 in 2021, down 4%, while the median of Canadian towns grew 4.1%. StatCan’s 2025 estimate is 8,612.
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).