ABOUT THE SURVEY

The qanuikkat siqinirmiut? (how are the people in the south?) Health survey is a community-based participatory project that aims to describe the health and well-being of Inuit living in southern Quebec. The survey will begin in May 2024 and continue through the summer.

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The number of Inuit moving to the South is increasing rapidly: from 2006 to 2011, the urban Inuit population grew by 76%, compared to 18% for the northern Inuit population. In Canada, just over 27% of the Inuit population (17,695) now resides outside the traditional territories of Inuit Nunangat. In Québec, we estimate that close to 20% of Nunavik Inuit now live outside the region. According to our census data, the southern Quebec Inuit population includes roughly 2,200 people, with individuals coming from all four regions of Inuit Nunangat. The majority of the population live in the greater Montreal area, but many Inuit also live around centres such as Gatineau, Quebec and Val-d’Or. As the Inuit population grows in the south, the need for culturally-appropriate health services is increasing too.

In contrast to northern communities, where systematic health surveys have been undertaken repeatedly since the 1980s, very little is known about the health of Inuit in the South. Consequently, the development of health services for Siqinirmiut has been limited by a near complete absence of data on the health of the population. To address this gap, the Qanuikkat Siqinirmiut? project was created to generate information and describe the health and well-being of Inuit from an Inuit health perspective. This multidisciplinary and mixed-methods study is using qualitative and quantitative data to allow a full understanding of health and wellbeing to emerge.

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Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.