--- canonical_url: "https://csls.ca/research/nunaviks-labour-market-and-educational-attainment-paradox/" title: "Nunavik’s Labour Market and Educational Attainment Paradox" author: name: "CSLS" url: "https://csls.ca/author/cslc/" date_published: "2026-07-02T12:48:58+00:00" date_modified: "2026-07-07T08:08:04+00:00" post_type: "research" summary: "" post_tag: - "childcare" - "education" - "employment" - "female participation" - "Indigenous" - "Inuit Nunangat" - "labour market" - "Nunavik" - "public sector" - "Quebec" country_focus: - "Canada" province_region: - "Nunavut/Nunavik" research_theme: - "Indigenous Economic Development" - "Labour Markets" - "Regional Economic Development" featured_image: "https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/old-reports_hero_banner_bg.webp" status: "publish" --- # Nunavik’s Labour Market and Educational Attainment Paradox Canonical URL: https://csls.ca/research/nunaviks-labour-market-and-educational-attainment-paradox/ # Nunavik’s Labour Market and Educational Attainment Paradox [Download full PDF report](https://csls.ca/pdf/csls2016-13-1.pdf) Cite this report × Cite this report as: Thomas, Jasmin. 2016. “Nunavik’s Labour Market and Educational Attainment Paradox.” CSLS Research Report 2016-13. Ottawa: Centre for the Study of Living Standards. https://csls.ca/research/nunaviks-labour-market-and-educational-attainment-paradox/ ## Author: - Jasmin Thomas Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS) ## Report 2016-13 July 2016 78 pages ## Related research [Closing the First Nations Education Gap in Canada: Assessing Progress and Estimating the Economic Benefits — An Update Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS) February 2023 | Report 2023-01 | 101 pages](https://csls.ca/research/closing-the-first-nations-education-gap-in-canada-assessing-progress-and-estimating-the-economic-benefits-an-update-2023-01/) [Apprenticeship in Canada: A Training System Under Siege? 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For example, Nunavik’s employment rate was 54.1 per cent in 2011, while the aggregate employment rate for Inuit Nunangat excluding Nunavik was only 42.9 per cent. Nunavik enjoyed this higher employment rate despite the fact that its Inuit population had, on average, 0.2 fewer years of schooling than Inuit Nunangat as a whole. In this paper, we examine a number of factors that could explain this paradox. Of all the factors examined, (1) public sector job provision and (2) child care availability and cost appear to have the most important impact on Nunavik’s labour market outcomes. First, Nunavik’s public sector, representing two-thirds of the experienced labour force, is a more important component of the overall economy than the public sector in the other three Inuit Nunangat regions, where it represents approximately half of the experienced labour force. Second, due to the implementation of the First Nations and Inuit Child Care Initiative and the Québec Government’s family policies in the late-1990s, Nunavik has the greatest availability of child care services and the lowest daily child care fee of the four Inuit Nunangat regions. Both the ample supply of child care and the low cost have contributed to large increases in female labour force participation since 1996 (7.4 percentage points). Le Nunavik, la région nordique québécoise de l’Inuit Nunangat, a affiché une meilleure performance sur le marché du travail que les trois autres régions de l’Inuit Nunangat entre 1996 et 2011. Par exemple, le taux d’emploi du Nunavik s’établissait à 54,1 % en 2011, alors que le taux d’emploi global de l’Inuit Nunangat à l’exclusion du Nunavik n’était que de 42,9 %. Le Nunavik a bénéficié de ce taux d’emploi plus élevé même si sa population inuite comptait, en moyenne, 0,2 année de scolarité de moins que l’ensemble de l’Inuit Nunangat. Dans cet article, nous examinons plusieurs facteurs susceptibles d’expliquer ce paradoxe. Parmi tous les facteurs étudiés, (1) la création d’emplois dans le secteur public et (2) la disponibilité et le coût des services de garde semblent avoir l’incidence la plus importante sur les résultats du marché du travail du Nunavik. Premièrement, le secteur public du Nunavik, qui représente les deux tiers de la main-d’œuvre expérimentée, constitue une composante plus importante de l’économie globale que dans les trois autres régions de l’Inuit Nunangat, où il représente environ la moitié de la main-d’œuvre expérimentée. Deuxièmement, en raison de la mise en œuvre de l’Initiative de services de garde pour les Premières Nations et les Inuits ainsi que des politiques familiales du gouvernement du Québec à la fin des années 1990, le Nunavik dispose de la plus grande offre de services de garde et des frais quotidiens les plus bas parmi les quatre régions de l’Inuit Nunangat. L’offre abondante de services de garde combinée à leur faible coût a contribué à une forte hausse du taux d’activité des femmes depuis 1996 (7,4 points de pourcentage). [Download full PDF report](https://csls.ca/pdf/csls2016-13-1.pdf)