22-05-2025
Nunavik village faces ‘complete crisis' amid chronic water shortage
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Nellie Iqiquq Powell has had no choice but to use snow to help clean and feed her family of six due to a persistent and severe water shortage in Puvirnituq, a village in Quebec's Far North.
Water has been delivered twice in the past two months but it isn't enough for her four young children, all under the age of nine. After her shift as a midwife, the 46-year-old comes home to gather snow outside.
'It's a lot of work to do that,' she said in an interview Wednesday with The Gazette. 'I work nine to five and I come home to do work with melting snow; take care of the toilets and do the dishes. And I have to cook food. But it's hard to boil food to eat.'
Iqiquq Powell is among 2,100 residents in the Inuit community near Hudson Bay, which has been without consistent water deliveries since mid-March after a blizzard froze a water main. Extreme weather compounded the situation, with the village forced to bring in water by truck on roads coated in snow and ice.
But the crisis worsened last weekend after a fire broke out Saturday afternoon and crews struggled to contain the flames.
The municipal council of Puvirnituq declared a state of emergency after two homes were lost in the fire. In a Facebook post, Mayor Lucy Qalingo called on the federal and provincial governments to 'stop ignoring' the needs of northern communities she described as 'forgotten Canadians.'
Quebec has delivered at least 100,000 litres of water in two rounds of shipments, a spokesperson for the government's Ministère du Conseil exécutif confirmed in an email Thursday. A third round 'with similar quantities, between 50,000 and 60,000 (litres), depending on the capacity of the vessels' is being prepared and expected to be shipped Friday morning.
The province also requested assistance from the Canadian Rangers. Federal Emergency Management Minister Eleanor Olszewski approved the request Tuesday, saying 'the safety of Canadians is our top priority and we will always be there to help when asked.'
I have approved a Request for Federal Assistance from Quebec. @CanadianForces Rangers will assist the residents of Puvirnituq w/ distribution of drinking water & provide technical support. The safety of Canadians is our top priority & we will always be there to help when asked.
— Eleanor Olszewski (@Eleanor4Centre) May 21, 2025
The evolving situation also forced the gradual closure of two Puvirnituq schools this week. The academic year usually ends at the beginning of June.
Kativik Ilisarniliriniq, the school board for the Nunavik region, said on its website the current context meant it 'cannot ensure the continuity of educational services.' Students will still be able to write end-of-year exams.
Jeannie Dupuis, assistant director general at the school board, said 'at the beginning of last week, the situation didn't seem as urgent as it became.' Both schools were partially open, she said, but the weather was among the factors making it 'difficult to keep the schools open, with having no running water for the students to be able to go use the washrooms, wash their hands.'
'The decision was difficult to take,' she told The Gazette.
The school board has also implemented measures to help out, including using a school gym as a community dispensary for water, Dupuis said. About half of the teachers and staff were able to leave the community over the weekend.
Alyssia Bray, who teaches seventh and eighth grades, was among those on her way home to Montreal on Wednesday after packing up her belongings. She hopes that by having fewer homes in need of water deliveries, it will alleviate the ongoing shortage.
'I just wanted to be able to leave the community, as quickly as possible, to try and give some more water to people,' she said.
The scarcity of water has been 'extremely rough' for her students, who she characterized as 'brilliant and kind individuals.' At times, some of them were not able to shower for a week or more. Municipal truck and sewage crews, she said, have been working around the clock just to get the situation under control.
'We still have quite a bit of snow here,' Bray said. 'And with it starting to melt and the slush and trucks getting stuck ... it's just situation on top of situation that has made this a complete crisis and an emergency for the community members.'
Hospitals and health services are also bearing the brunt of the water shortage. The provincial government has said the health centre has reported an increase in people seeking treatment for gastroenteritis.
As a midwife, Iqiquq Powell said a lack of water means some patients had to be transferred as far as Montreal.
'We have to let our patients go elsewhere to give birth,' she said.
The Inuulitsivik Health Centre said in a post on Facebook that nine long-term care patients and some staff were temporarily relocated to CISSS de Lanaudière. In another, it said the collective response from its teams have also helped deliver water and provide health services during the crisis.
