Making Change: Economic Development in Pond Inlet, 1987 to 1997

Abstract

This longitudinal survey of local economic changes in Pond Inlet, Nunavut, is based on two extensive economic studies from the mid-1980s and data gathered in 1997. This comparison allows an examination of the changing importance of some sectors of the local economy and leads to a discussion of the factors contributing to both changes and lack of change in the community's economy. Job opportunities for the growing population in Pond Inlet are still limited, but along with expectations for increased government employment as a result of the new Nunavut government, local enterprise development is occurring. Many of the obstacles to development that were identified in 1987 still persist, including lack of infrastructure, insufficient local control of economic forces, and sometimes inappropriate development models.