{"id":265653,"date":"2025-11-06T13:56:37","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T13:56:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/265653\/"},"modified":"2025-11-06T13:56:37","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T13:56:37","slug":"iqaluit-to-bid-on-hosting-inuit-nunangat-university","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/265653\/","title":{"rendered":"Iqaluit to bid on hosting Inuit Nunangat University"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Nunavut capital is 1 of 8 communities named by ITK as finalists for post-secondary institution<\/p>\n<p>Iqaluit would be a \u201cgreat place\u201d for <a href=\"https:\/\/nunatsiaq.com\/stories\/article\/itk-seeks-home-for-proposed-universitys-main-campus\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Inuit Nunangat University<\/a>, says Mayor Solomon Awa.<\/p>\n<p>Awa made the comments Tuesday night after city councillors voted to direct staff to begin preparing a proposal to Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami about why the Nunavut capital should be the planned university\u2019s home.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[Iqaluit] is a natural home for a university,\u201d Awa said.<\/p>\n<p>Inuit Nunangat University is ITK\u2019s long-running plan to build a post-secondary institution somewhere in the Inuit homeland.<\/p>\n<p>Last month, ITK named Iqaluit as one of <a href=\"https:\/\/nunatsiaq.com\/stories\/article\/itk-shortlists-8-northern-communities-as-potential-hosts-of-inuit-nunangat-university-main-campus\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">eight shortlisted communities<\/a> to be the school\u2019s potential host. The othes are Inuvik in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, Nain in Nunatsiavut, Puvirnituq and Kuujjuaq in Nunavik, and Cambridge Bay, Rankin Inlet and Arviat in Nunavut.<\/p>\n<p>In an Oct. 6 letter to Awa and council, ITK president Natan Obed invited the city to confirm by Oct. 30 that it is interested in submitting a proposal.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis will start discussions with our [Inuit Nunangat University] team at ITK on your community\u2019s needs and capacity,\u201d Obed wrote.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/nunatsiaq.com\/ads\/251010-legislative-assembly\/\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"373\" height=\"331\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1762437396_442_A-14610.93.gif\" class=\"no-lazy-load wp-post-image\" title=\"\" aria-hidden=\"true\" alt=\"\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfterward, you\u2019ll be guided in preparing a full proposal for the main campus. Communities not selected may still be considered for one of three [Inuit Nunangat University] Knowledge Centres using existing facilities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On Tuesday, Iqaluit chief administrative officer Steve England sought direction from council on how the city should respond.<\/p>\n<p>Coun. Kyle Sheppard called Iqaluit the \u201clogical home\u201d for Inuit Nunangat University, citing the city\u2019s infrastructure. He moved to direct staff to respond to ITK with an expression of interest.<\/p>\n<p>Awa agreed with Sheppard, noting that the city is midway through its long-term water supply and delivery system upgrades.<\/p>\n<p>He also said a university would be a great addition to the city\u2019s educational institutions, which include Nunavut Arctic College and six kindergaten-through-Grade 12 schools.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have to advertise Iqaluit, \u2018Hey, come over here,\u2019 and \u2018this is [a] great place,\u2019\u201d Awa said.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/nunatsiaq.com\/ads\/251031-immunization-sidebar\/\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"373\" height=\"331\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/A-14618.95_Immunization.gif\" class=\"no-lazy-load wp-post-image\" title=\"\" aria-hidden=\"true\" alt=\"\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>However, the decision lies with ITK.<\/p>\n<p>The Inuit organization plans to select its main campus later this year, with an aim to open in 2030.<\/p>\n<p>The school is expected to have the capacity to host 100 students and 80 staff.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nunavut capital is 1 of 8 communities named by ITK as finalists for post-secondary institution Iqaluit would be&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":265654,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,66],"class_list":["post-265653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=265653"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265653\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/265654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}