RANKIN INLET, NU – Last month the Kivalliq Inuit Association (KIA) welcomed the endorsement of the Kivalliq Hydro-Fibre Link in the 2021 Federal Budget as a clear signal that the clean energy and broadband project is advancing to bring renewable electricity and high speed Internet to the Kivalliq region of Nunavut. The KIA also welcomed Nukik Corporation as the new Inuit-led development partner for the project.

“We were very pleased to see this important project explicitly named in the Federal Budget as a signature showpiece of projects underway to green the energy supply to the North,” said Kono Tattuinee, President of the KIA. “We are excited by this project’s promise to bring our communities off burning diesel for power, and to promote renewable energy, green Nunavut’s mining operations, and extend broadband Internet connectivity to our communities.”

The federal budget, tabled on April 19 by Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, stated the following:

Budget 2021 proposes to invest $40.4 million over three years, starting in 2021-22, to support feasibility and planning of hydroelectricity and grid interconnection projects in the North. This funding could advance projects, such as the Atlin Hydro Expansion Project in Yukon and the Kivalliq HydroFibre Link Project in Nunavut. Projects will provide clean power to northern communities and help reduce emissions from mining projects.

Tattuinee announced the establishment of a new Inuit owned corporation, Nukik, which will now assume the lead role in working with the Canada Infrastructure Bank and major financial and industry partners to take the KFHL project through this next phase of development and into the commercial phase. “In our language, Paallirmiutut, Nukik means strength and power. And that is exactly what this important project represents: our communities will be strengthened by the renewable power and connectivity the hydro-fibre link brings. We are proud of the role Inuit leadership have taken to spearhead these efforts for our region and for the Territory. I congratulate KIA and Sakku’s board for unanimously creating Nukik Corporation and am pleased to announce David Kakuktinniq as President of Nukik.”

“The Kivalliq Hydro-Fibre Link is actively at work securing permits, conducting baseline studies and working in partnership with the Canadian Infrastructure Bank,” remarked David Kakuktinniq, Nukik’s President. “As one of our first steps we released an RFP with the Bank and have selected KPMG Canada to serve as Financial Advisor to the Project.”

“We are buoyed by the momentum we are seeing for the Kivalliq Hydro-Fibre Link.  Tremendous work has gone into getting it to this stage, and we are excited by the continued championship from within government, and by the energy and confidence of our partners,” concluded Tattuinee.

About the Kivalliq Hydro-Fibre Link Project

The Kivalliq Hydro-Fibre Link is a renewable energy and broadband internet national infrastructure project led by the Kivalliq Inuit Association (“KIA”) of Nunavut. The Project will see 1,200km of high voltage and over 370km of lower voltage electricity transmission line built to link five communities in the Kivalliq region of Nunavut (Arviat, Baker Lake, Chesterfield Inlet, Rankin Inlet and Whale Cove) to the Manitoba electricity and fibreoptic grids. The Project will be rated at 150 megawatts (MW) of capacity and have a fibreoptic bandwidth capacity of at least 1,200 gigabits per second (Gbps). This Inuit-led project will be Nunavut’s first infrastructure link to southern Canada, and will provide enough power and fibreoptic internet capacity for the Kivalliq region for generations to come.

For further information:

Jonathan Pameolik
Manager, Communications, Kivalliq Inuit Association
[email protected]
(867) 645-5766

Tom Garrett
Lead project consultant for Kivalliq Inuit Association
[email protected]
(204) 806-3670