These are some of the latest projects and published papers. Thank you to our funders and partners for their support in helping make these projects a success!
This research paper explores the critical issues surrounding the identification, recruitment, and retention of Northern and Indigenous talent within contemporary workforce environments. The significance of this study lies in addressing long-standing disparities and underrepresentation of Northern and Indigenous individuals in mainstream employment sectors, despite their rich cultural heritage and valuable contributions to society.
The literature review highlights various challenges faced by Northern and Indigenous talent, including geographic isolation, educational barriers, and cultural marginalization. Current recruitment and retention strategies are scrutinized, revealing significant gaps in effective implementation and inclusivity. Key findings indicate that while some organizations have made strides in creating inclusive workplaces, many struggle with cultural insensitivity and inadequate support systems. These findings emphasize the effectiveness of culturally responsive practices and targeted recruitment efforts.
This report proposes actionable recommendations to enhance identification, recruitment, and retention practices for Northern and Indigenous talent. These include fostering partnerships with Indigenous communities, integrating cultural competency training for employers, and implementing mentorship programs to support career progression. Ultimately, addressing these gaps presents a significant opportunity to not only diversify the workforce but also to foster inclusive environments that celebrate and leverage the unique perspectives and contributions of Northern and Indigenous talent. By implementing these recommendations, organizations can cultivate a more equitable and sustainable approach to talent management, ensuring the full realization of potential across all sectors of society.
Created in partnership with Canada’s Ocean Supercluster (OCS).
This project includes the co-development of a holistic, culturally contextualized training curriculum to address the barriers faced by Inuit in remote northern communities and promote inclusion and participation in the ocean economy. Grounded in Inuit Societal Values and Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (IQ), the curriculum will blend IQ with digital and technical skills to provide the resources necessary to operate technology that monitors ice conditions, empowering communities to develop strategies to adapt to climate change. The train-the-trainer component of the curriculum is critical to project success, and Inuit SmartICE staff will deliver pilot training to Inuit within their own communities of Arctic Bay and Pond Inlet, Nunavut and Nain, Nunatsiavut in the 2021-2022 ice season, with hopes to expand to the broader SmartICE community network in the future.
Funded by Canada’s Ocean Supercluster Accelerated Ocean Solutions Program. Other contributors include Pinnguaq Association, Nunavut Fisheries Association, Ilitaqsiniq – Nunavut Literacy Council, Social Research and Demonstration Corporation (SRDC), and Arctic Bay Adventures.
In consultation with community, annual summaries of community ice climate data are being developed. This will create the opportunity for multiyear ice climate data to be viewed and compared for each piloted community. The ice climate data compared from year to year will raise awareness of the potential impacts of changing climate on ice travel conditions in communities (e.g., ice thinning, changing seasonal ice patterns) and lead to greater adoption of travel safety measures that ultimately mitigate the increasing travel risk. Data reports can be found on our Ice Trends page. Once piloted and evaluated, the service availability and value will be communicated to all SmartICE communities and to a wider public and science audience.
Funded by Canadian Centre for Climate Services (CCCS).
For Inuit, sea ice is a hunting platform, a travel highway, and part of their culture and identity. Changing climate is negatively affecting sea-ice characteristics that determine safe and efficient travel for Inuit, such as roughness, thickness, and slush. Consequently, there are increased travel accidents, search-and-rescue incidents, and impacts on mental health, food security, and cultural practices. Our Inuit-led project team will combine satellite data (optical and micro-wave frequencies), state-of-the-art uncrewed airborne vehicles (UAVs, or drones), and most importantly Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (Inuit knowledge, values, and worldview) to co-produce new information on sea-ice roughness, snow roughness, and slush for SmartICE’s Sikumik Qaujimajjuti (community ice travel safety maps; see our Ice Safety page). The production of these maps will be piloted in our partner communities and eventually expanded across Inuit Nunangat. Our approach will be grounded in Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit and include a co-designed Inuit training program for UAV-based sea-ice monitoring to augment the mature environmental data collection developed by SmartICE. With our Arctic Eider Society partner, Inuit Nunangat communities will be able to access in near real-time these new map products through the Indigenous Knowledge Social Network platform (SIKU.org). Read the full project press release here.
Thank you to the CINUK partners and funders – Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, United Kingdom Research and Innovation (UKRI), Polar Knowledge Canada, the National Research Council of Canada (NRC), Parks Canada Agency, and Fonds de recherche du Québec
This best practices guide has been designed to provide insights for employers interested in promoting partnerships and pre-WIL and Work Integrated Learning (WIL) opportunities within Northern Indigenous communities. This guide will provide tips and suggestions for employers based upon best practices that are informed by Inuit ways of knowing. The following framework is designed to provide support to employers to work with Inuit and Northern youth and to be an asset for employers towards developing a skilled and self-renewing Inuit workforce.