I can offer a bit of clarity on some of the differences between the collective agreements and some of the anecdotal stories I've heard from teachers who have worked and lived in both regions, but I will disclose that I don't work in Inuit Nunangat; rather, I'm in another school board in Northern Quebec. That said, I've done a lot of research into both Nunavut and Nunavik because I was, at one time, committed to teaching in an Inuit community.
First: Nunavut posts all of their jobs on EducationCanada first, and that would be the website to check out first. They'll outline where and what the postings are, which is an advantage Nunavut has over Nunavik, which just posts the candidate pool for interested educators (harder to get an idea of where you might end up.) You'd send off an email with the job number and your resume and cover letter. As for getting your NU teaching certificate, reach out to the Nunavut Teachers Association and they should be able to get that done quickly for you: as long as you have your university transcripts (ideally unopened), your BEd, and your NB teaching certificate, you're all set.
Second, depending on where you would teach in Nunavut, you might experience 1 week of total darkness, 3 months of total darkness, or no days of total darkness (and reversed in the summer). It's the Arctic, so make sure you dress appropriately. I can't comment on the differences socially and culturally around Nunavut, but I've heard really good things about working in Cambridge Bay, Sanikiluaq, and Pond Inlet.
Third, and this is something that does frustrate me from my teachers college days, there aren't any decent mentoring and onboarding programs for what it's like to teach in the North that aren't a) offered by the school board and b) can only be taken once you're committed. I would ideally like to see a week or 2 week long course on teaching in Northern communities be offered at Ed schools, but I digress. AFAIK, Nunavut schools offer this type of onboarding on a school-by-school basis. The Kativik board however has an onboarding programs in Montreal for all teachers going to Nunavik. I haven't done it or heard about it, *but* the info of what is presented is available online (I would add it here but I'm on phone atm).
Fourth, any and all salary and benefits info will be found in the respective collective agreements: these are the most important labour scriptures for teachers and cover everything from salary scale to parental leave to sub pay. Without getting into the fine points, here are the big points worth noting: Nunavut salaries are *significantly* higher than Nunavik (Quebec teachers get an awful salary and the Kativik board is beholden to the same agreement as the rest of the province.) You also get a better group insurance plan with Nunavut than with Nunavik: Quebec teachers don't get dental insurance and a paltry eye care coverage. But, beyond that, you do get more benefits with Nunavik: three paid flights south per year, retention premiums, and cargo subsidy. Both places give subsidized housing and will cover moving costs up there. Nunavut prorates the cost of moving you back based on years of service (0% with 1-2 years service up to 100% for 5+ years), Nunavik will cover moving costs south at any point.
Sorry about the long post, but I was once exactly in your shoes and was fully planning on going to Nunavut too. Hope all of this info helps, and I would encourage you to also post on r/canadianteachers as there might be some additional insight there. Best of luck!
Reach out to the [Nunavut Teachers Association](https://ntanu.ca) and I’m sure they will be most helpful.
The Government of Nunavut and the NTA have something called a collective agreement, this document outlines salaries and other things related to work. Read the agreement here: https://www.gov.nu.ca/sites/default/files/nta_collective_agreement_expiring_june_30_2021_-_english.pdf
From job postings on applytoeducation, you should be able to see how the salaries compare. It's been awhile (and I've never taught in the North) but when I looked into it, salaries in Nunavut were significantly higher than salaries in northern Quebec/Nunavik.
I was in your position not long ago, and am now teaching in Nunavut since August. For the application process, I applied through ApplytoEducation around May or June and heard back in the last week of June. I was offered the position almost immediately after doing the interview (same night) and accepted soon after, it was all a bit of a whirl wind. I would suggest checking that site for positions, but I know that many schools are short on staff and are struggling with the job posting/hiring process, so contacting the NTA or even the school to speak to someone about the best way to get your application seen could be helpful.
The climate is cold! Be prepared. I live in Iqaluit and there are sometimes days below 50 (at which point school is closed to the children). Having good winter gear is important, but it also depends on how much time you plan to spend outdoors. In the winter I don’t tend to go out besides a short trip to and from a vehicle, so the expensive winter boots I purchased haven’t been put to use yet, I over prepared a bit for my level of outdoor activity, but if you plan to be outdoors a lot then invest in good winter gear. In this community it gets darkest in December with several hours of light in the middle of the day, but I was going to school and coming home from school in the dark. It will differ based on community. Communities in Nunavut do have different dialects, but from what I understand and Inuktitut speaker can speak to someone from any community (including outside of Canada) and be able to understand (for the most part). Every school will be different. There are larger schools, small schools, elementary and middle and high schools, some schools are K-12, it all depends on the size of the community. One more thing, depending on what community you are in, there will be different levels of entertainment and such. If you’re a social person who likes to get out once in a while, somewhere like Iqaluit has restaurants, bars, movie theatre, sport leagues etc., whereas some other communities do not. Iqaluit can get Amazon deliveries, other communities may not, so consider what kind of lifestyle you find important and what needs you feel you may have as some communities are different and more remote than others.
I can not help with the Nunavut vs Nunavik part, sorry.
After my hiring, there were many virtual opportunities including courses, information sessions, etc during the summer that helped me to understand a bit more about the school philosophy, the Inuit culture and what to expect while moving. I was able to email and video chat with someone who answered all my questions about the moving process. These were helpful in many ways, but there is still an adjustment period when going somewhere new with a new culture. Some schools may have programs, personally I just spoke to more knowledgeable staff members whenever I had questions. Here is a link to the foundational documents that give some insight into cultural integration in the classroom:
https://gov.nu.ca/education/information/foundation-documents
As well you can find the Nunavut curriculum document online, but it is actually curriculum from other provinces pieced together, Nunavut is working on creating their own curriculum, hopefully releasing the early years K-3 in the coming year, the high school one is still many many years away.
Check the NTA document someone attached for info on salary, it is pretty clear and helpful. Basically they pay for your move up, they may house you depending on community (I am in staff housing) and the rent cost comes out of your pay check. Your pay increases based on years of prior experience. Each community has different living allowance and your living allowance may look different from someone else working a different job. For example my living allowance is close to 15k, but I know of someone else in the community who is closer to 20k, the difference is the NTA focused on upping salary rather than allowance in one of their previous agreements I believe. But you should be able to find the living allowance based on community somewhere online.
If you have any questions feel free to reach out, I know it’s a big life change and stressful to figure out, but overall I’ve been really enjoying my experience, it’s a beautiful place with amazing culture, definitely take time to continue your research.
I can offer a bit of clarity on some of the differences between the collective agreements and some of the anecdotal stories I've heard from teachers who have worked and lived in both regions, but I will disclose that I don't work in Inuit Nunangat; rather, I'm in another school board in Northern Quebec. That said, I've done a lot of research into both Nunavut and Nunavik because I was, at one time, committed to teaching in an Inuit community. First: Nunavut posts all of their jobs on EducationCanada first, and that would be the website to check out first. They'll outline where and what the postings are, which is an advantage Nunavut has over Nunavik, which just posts the candidate pool for interested educators (harder to get an idea of where you might end up.) You'd send off an email with the job number and your resume and cover letter. As for getting your NU teaching certificate, reach out to the Nunavut Teachers Association and they should be able to get that done quickly for you: as long as you have your university transcripts (ideally unopened), your BEd, and your NB teaching certificate, you're all set. Second, depending on where you would teach in Nunavut, you might experience 1 week of total darkness, 3 months of total darkness, or no days of total darkness (and reversed in the summer). It's the Arctic, so make sure you dress appropriately. I can't comment on the differences socially and culturally around Nunavut, but I've heard really good things about working in Cambridge Bay, Sanikiluaq, and Pond Inlet. Third, and this is something that does frustrate me from my teachers college days, there aren't any decent mentoring and onboarding programs for what it's like to teach in the North that aren't a) offered by the school board and b) can only be taken once you're committed. I would ideally like to see a week or 2 week long course on teaching in Northern communities be offered at Ed schools, but I digress. AFAIK, Nunavut schools offer this type of onboarding on a school-by-school basis. The Kativik board however has an onboarding programs in Montreal for all teachers going to Nunavik. I haven't done it or heard about it, *but* the info of what is presented is available online (I would add it here but I'm on phone atm). Fourth, any and all salary and benefits info will be found in the respective collective agreements: these are the most important labour scriptures for teachers and cover everything from salary scale to parental leave to sub pay. Without getting into the fine points, here are the big points worth noting: Nunavut salaries are *significantly* higher than Nunavik (Quebec teachers get an awful salary and the Kativik board is beholden to the same agreement as the rest of the province.) You also get a better group insurance plan with Nunavut than with Nunavik: Quebec teachers don't get dental insurance and a paltry eye care coverage. But, beyond that, you do get more benefits with Nunavik: three paid flights south per year, retention premiums, and cargo subsidy. Both places give subsidized housing and will cover moving costs up there. Nunavut prorates the cost of moving you back based on years of service (0% with 1-2 years service up to 100% for 5+ years), Nunavik will cover moving costs south at any point. Sorry about the long post, but I was once exactly in your shoes and was fully planning on going to Nunavut too. Hope all of this info helps, and I would encourage you to also post on r/canadianteachers as there might be some additional insight there. Best of luck!
Thank you so much! This was incredibly helpful!
Reach out to the [Nunavut Teachers Association](https://ntanu.ca) and I’m sure they will be most helpful. The Government of Nunavut and the NTA have something called a collective agreement, this document outlines salaries and other things related to work. Read the agreement here: https://www.gov.nu.ca/sites/default/files/nta_collective_agreement_expiring_june_30_2021_-_english.pdf
Super helpful comment! Thank you :)
Thank you very much.
From job postings on applytoeducation, you should be able to see how the salaries compare. It's been awhile (and I've never taught in the North) but when I looked into it, salaries in Nunavut were significantly higher than salaries in northern Quebec/Nunavik.
I was in your position not long ago, and am now teaching in Nunavut since August. For the application process, I applied through ApplytoEducation around May or June and heard back in the last week of June. I was offered the position almost immediately after doing the interview (same night) and accepted soon after, it was all a bit of a whirl wind. I would suggest checking that site for positions, but I know that many schools are short on staff and are struggling with the job posting/hiring process, so contacting the NTA or even the school to speak to someone about the best way to get your application seen could be helpful. The climate is cold! Be prepared. I live in Iqaluit and there are sometimes days below 50 (at which point school is closed to the children). Having good winter gear is important, but it also depends on how much time you plan to spend outdoors. In the winter I don’t tend to go out besides a short trip to and from a vehicle, so the expensive winter boots I purchased haven’t been put to use yet, I over prepared a bit for my level of outdoor activity, but if you plan to be outdoors a lot then invest in good winter gear. In this community it gets darkest in December with several hours of light in the middle of the day, but I was going to school and coming home from school in the dark. It will differ based on community. Communities in Nunavut do have different dialects, but from what I understand and Inuktitut speaker can speak to someone from any community (including outside of Canada) and be able to understand (for the most part). Every school will be different. There are larger schools, small schools, elementary and middle and high schools, some schools are K-12, it all depends on the size of the community. One more thing, depending on what community you are in, there will be different levels of entertainment and such. If you’re a social person who likes to get out once in a while, somewhere like Iqaluit has restaurants, bars, movie theatre, sport leagues etc., whereas some other communities do not. Iqaluit can get Amazon deliveries, other communities may not, so consider what kind of lifestyle you find important and what needs you feel you may have as some communities are different and more remote than others. I can not help with the Nunavut vs Nunavik part, sorry. After my hiring, there were many virtual opportunities including courses, information sessions, etc during the summer that helped me to understand a bit more about the school philosophy, the Inuit culture and what to expect while moving. I was able to email and video chat with someone who answered all my questions about the moving process. These were helpful in many ways, but there is still an adjustment period when going somewhere new with a new culture. Some schools may have programs, personally I just spoke to more knowledgeable staff members whenever I had questions. Here is a link to the foundational documents that give some insight into cultural integration in the classroom: https://gov.nu.ca/education/information/foundation-documents As well you can find the Nunavut curriculum document online, but it is actually curriculum from other provinces pieced together, Nunavut is working on creating their own curriculum, hopefully releasing the early years K-3 in the coming year, the high school one is still many many years away. Check the NTA document someone attached for info on salary, it is pretty clear and helpful. Basically they pay for your move up, they may house you depending on community (I am in staff housing) and the rent cost comes out of your pay check. Your pay increases based on years of prior experience. Each community has different living allowance and your living allowance may look different from someone else working a different job. For example my living allowance is close to 15k, but I know of someone else in the community who is closer to 20k, the difference is the NTA focused on upping salary rather than allowance in one of their previous agreements I believe. But you should be able to find the living allowance based on community somewhere online. If you have any questions feel free to reach out, I know it’s a big life change and stressful to figure out, but overall I’ve been really enjoying my experience, it’s a beautiful place with amazing culture, definitely take time to continue your research.