Month In Review – Nunavut

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Month In Review – Nunavut

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LAWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

PPE

Apr 27: The Government of Nunavut (GN) reminded residents to wear a helmet when riding a snowmobile, ATV, motorcycle, bicycle, or skateboard. While these forms of travel may be part of everyday life, a crash can cause serious head injuries that wearing a helmet can prevent.

Action Point: Use the OHSI PPE Head Protection Compliance Game Plan to prevent head injuries and OHS penalties at your workplace.

New Laws

Apr 22: The Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency (CanNor) awarded over $13 million to four projects in Nunavut to foster infrastructure development and economic growth in all three regions of the territory. The projects include the Grays Bay Road and Port in the Kitikmeot region and the design of a new 7,222‑square‑foot economic development hub in Iqaluit.

Industry Challenges

Apr 22: The governments of Canada and Nunavut announced a joint investment of $2.45 million to conduct geological fieldwork on Baffin Island. The money will finance work led through Natural Resources Canada’s (NRCan) Canada-Nunavut Geoscience Office (CNGO), including geological fieldwork across south-central Baffin Island and analysis of collected geochemical data using existing artificial intelligence. The project is expected to generate new geoscientific data on the mineral potential of the Cumberland granite in south-central Baffin Island.

New Laws

Apr 20: Due to the suspension of the Federal Excise Tax, fuel prices in Nunavut decreased by 10 cents per litre for gasoline and 4 cents per litre for diesel and unleaded aviation fuels, effective through September 7, 2026.

New Laws

Apr 2: The federal government announced over $86.9 million in funding to bring unlimited high-speed Internet access to 11,650 households in 25 communities in Nunavut. The project will play a key role in ensuring that 100% of households in Nunavut have access to high-speed Internet by 2030.

Workers’ Compensation

May 4: The WSCC revised the formula it uses to annually adjust pensions and other workers’ comp payments and benefits to reflect changes in the cost of living due to inflation. The Board of Directors is expected to approve the policy changes at its upcoming governance meeting in June.

CASES

Workplace Violence: Disobeying Response Policy Doesn’t Cost Assault Victim Workers’ Compensation

A female teacher in Nunavut suffered head and neck injuries after being assaulted by a male student during school hours. The school claimed the injuries weren’t work-related because the incident happened away from school grounds and the teacher didn’t follow school workplace violence incident reporting and response protocols. After ping ponging around the appeals process, the WSCC decided the injuries did arise out of the teacher’s employment and accepted her workers’ compensation claim. The teacher’s failure to adhere to the school workplace violence protocols didn’t change the fact that she suffered the injuries due to her employment as a teacher; nor did it rise to the level of misconduct justifying loss of coverage [Decision 26-001, 2026 NTNUWCAT 1 (CanLII), April 22, 2026].

Action Point: Find out what you should and shouldn’t do when dealing with a workplace violence incident at your workplace.