Medical Emergencies If you need medical attention when visiting Nunavut, ask at your hotel, or look in the phone book under Health Centre. Iqaluit has a very well equipped hospital and all smaller communities have Health Centres staffed by specially trained nurses. The regional centres of Cambridge Bay and Rankin Inlet have community doctors. There are dentists in some communities. Air ambulance (Medevac) services, when required, will be arranged by the local Health Centre or hospital. The Nunavut Health Care Plan does not cover the cost of ground, marine, or air ambulance service for non-residents.
Visitors will be billed for these costs, which can be expensive, but may be covered by your personal insurance. Check the terms of your medical coverage before leaving home. If you are a Canadian citizen requiring medical services in Nunavut, then present your provincial or territorial health plan identification card at the Health Centre or hospital. Most costs will be covered and billed directly to your own health plan, or you can claim the expenses back later, usually within six months. If you are not Canadian, then you should check with your private, national or state health insurance provider before leaving home as to exactly what coverage will be afforded to you when travelling abroad. Short-term policies to cover medical emergencies and related ambulance or air transport costs are available through most travel agents,
but usually these plans must be purchased before your departure date. Non-Canadians are encouraged to obtain proper medical insurance before leaving home. If you neglect to do so beforehand, medical coverage for non-Canadians can be purchased through Nunavut Insurance Brokers. Money You will find a bank branch, ATM, or banking service at the local Co-op or Northern Store in nearly every community of Nunavut. VISA is the most widely accepted credit card, although other cards may be honoured too. Most stores have Interac (bank card) service. Bring along some Canadian currency, especially if you are arriving on a Sunday as stores and banks may be closed. If you are visiting from outside Canada, it is best to change your currency at home, or in Canada before arriving in Nunavut. Airports in southern Canadian cities offer foreign exchange services.
Telephone Service Telephone service is direct dial in every community of Nunavut. In the smaller communities, pay phones are limited to a few locations. Check at your hotel. Prepaid Calling Cards are available at various stores. Some remote communities and wilderness lodges in Nunavut offer HF radio or satellite phone service. Mobile phone service is available in select communities. Bell Canada is the satellite service provider. International mobile phones won’t work unless linked to Bell Canada. The area code for all parts of Nunavut is 867. Postal Service Mail, including packages, will arrive to you in any Nunavut community. Allow three to four weeks for it to arrive. Address it to your name, c/o General Delivery, with the community name and postal code. Label the letter or package as ‘Hold for Pickup’ and indicate your expected arrival date. In most communities, the Post Office is located at the local Co-op or Northern Store. Hours vary from community to community. For more information about receiving mail in Nunavut, visit the Canada Post website (www.canadapost.ca) or contact them at 1-888-550-6333.
Time Zones Nunavut has three time zones. The Qikiqtaaluk region, except for Resolute, operates on Eastern Standard Time. Kivalliq, plus most of Kitikmeot, is on Central Standard Time. The westernmost part of Kitikmeot, from Cambridge Bay westward, operates on Mountain Standard Time. Once you have come to Nunavut and experienced our hospitality, our food, our land, our sea, our culture, after you have seen some of our magnificent wildlife and have done all the unforgettable, adventurous things you dreamed of doing here, you may wish to say ‘angirraliqtunga’ to your newfound friends – I am going home. Or, you might decide to stay a while longer. We would love that!
The True North is a fantastic, refreshing change of venue for your most critical business meetings. Topnotch hotels, wilderness lodges and inns located across the giant territory of Nunavut offer all of the presentation, conference room, cable, satellite, internet and video facilities required for conducting highly productive meetings and training sessions for your business teams.
Nunavut communities have hosted everything from mining and climate change symposiums, northern trade shows, arts conventions, government think-tanks and language summits, to the prestigious, highsecurity meetings, entertainments and televised press conferences of world leaders. Vision After inspiring your group to reach new heights, motivating them to see the bigger picture more clearly can be as simple as taking them outdoors for a breath of fresh arctic air – in a vast, unspoiled, seemingly limitless panorama of opportunity. The best, most dynamic new ideas that your company may light upon might well be inspired by the shimmering Aurora Borealis. Productivity Healthy workers are more productive workers so, after crunching the numbers,
debating the pros and cons, brainstorming the master plans, you can take the team for an invigorating race across the sea ice on snowmobiles. Add a kayak tour to your itinerary. Visit the floe edge to film the gang where narwhals play. Instead of meeting inside your office, consider saving your best inspirational speech for a sunny sitdown moment on an iceberg. Motivation Distanced from the daily chaos of the stock exchange, far from noisy downtown traffic, with fewer hectic distractions and interruptions, the most important goals, objectives and strategies of your organization will become clearer for everyone involved. At the top of the world, conducting business meetings will be more impressive and effective. When combined with a dog sledding expedition, or a concert of throat-singing and drum dancing, your most valuable people will become motivated to achieve results like never before
