Month in Review – Nunavut

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Month in Review – Nunavut

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LAWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

Training

May 21: The new Canada-Nunavut Workforce Tariff Response will provide $1.5 million in funding over three years to help workers in the marine sector access training and employment supports. The money will be delivered by the Nunavut Fisheries and Marine Training Consortium to workers who successfully complete the Bridge Watch Training course for marine vessels operating in international waters.

Action Point: Find out about the 8 ways the U.S. tariffs affect Canadian workplaces and HR activities.

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.

New Laws

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.

Workers’ Compensation

May 4: The Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission (WSCC) revised the formula it uses to annually adjust pensions and other workers’ compensation 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: Not Following 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’ comp 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].