Project Summary
The Government of Nunavut (GN), through Community and Government Services (CGS) on behalf of the Department of Economic Development and Transportation (EDT), plans to improve the small craft harbour (SCH) facilities at the City of Iqaluit (the Project). Funding for the Project is available through the New Canada Build Fund and the GN.
The Project
The SCH improvements will be built at the municipal breakwater and the causeway within Koojesse Inlet. The Project work at the municipal breakwater includes an extension of the existing breakwater, construction of an additional north breakwater, a boat launch ramp, vehicle staging lanes, and new floating docks. The improvements to the causeway include a new high-tide ramp, a new vehicle turning circle on the causeway itself, and improvements to the existing low-tide ramp and parking area. The current SCH facility locations and arrangements were selected as the most appropriate because of suitability of access, existing marine infrastructure, and historic use.
Benefits to Iqaluit Residents
The Project is designed to serve a wide range of small boat users, such as hunters and fishers, subsistence harvesters, outfitters, recreational users, and cruise ship tenders. Between the municipal breakwater and the causeway, residents will enjoy all-tide access to support their summer activities. The SCH will improve safe access to water and the functionality of boating activities by reducing congestion, safety concerns, and environmental risks associated with the current use of the municipal breakwater and causeway.
At the municipal breakwater, the new boat ramp will be approximately five times wider than the current ramp, significantly increasing the capacity for boat launching. The staging area will reduce congestion by providing parking and a queuing lane off of Sinaa Street. The extension on the municipal breakwater and the construction of a new north breakwater will provide substantially better protection to the harbour from the prevailing winds, which was a significant concern expressed during consultation with the community. The arrangement of the breakwaters will create a larger and better protected harbour than what currently exists, allowing for more movement within a sheltered area. The basin in this area can be dredged in the future to improve tide access. The Project will also improve day-to-day operations and safety for boat users by providing additional amenities, including an improved shoreline with permanent tie-up points for high-tide moorage, floating docks, better lighting, and access stairs built into the breakwater slope leading to the floating docks for additional boat accessibility.
Boaters will have all-tide access at the causeway with the addition of a new high tide ramp. A new vehicle turnaround will eliminate the need to back vehicles down the narrow causeway, making it faster and safer to launch boats. Parking will also be improved at the causeway with a level and larger parking area. This part of the Project will be completed prior to starting at the municipal breakwater to ensure that water access is always maintained during construction. Such improvements should divert a lot of truck and trailer traffic to the causeway, resulting in a significant improvement to the traffic congestion currently experienced at the municipal breakwater.
 
Construction
Construction will start in summer 2018 at the causeway with the arrival of the first sealift. It will take place mostly during the open water months. The work at the municipal breakwater is expected to be completed by 2019.
Potable water, sanitary and solid waste disposal, and fuel will be provided by the City of Iqaluit. Fuel required for construction equipment will be diesel. Refuelling of equipment will be done in designated fuelling areas or using portable containment. Construction equipment may include excavators, rock transport trucks, front-end loaders, compactors, dozers and graders, cranes and forklifts and other equipment.
Approximately 30 workers will be needed for construction. Non-local workers will stay in local accommodations. Construction equipment will arrive on the sealift and workers and consumables will arrive by scheduled flights, with charter flights to be used if needed.
A Construction Environmental Management Plan (CEMP) will provide mitigation and monitoring commitments for the construction phase of the Project.
Operations
Operations at the SCH facilities will continue to provide public access for the community. EDT is committed to developing and implementing operations plans for these facilities. EDT will also work with the City of Iqaluit to agree to any infrastructure maintenance or monitoring requirements, and for coordination of services, such as waste management.
Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit
Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (IQ) has been gathered on local site conditions, harvesting, travel routes and water/ice access and considered in the design and planning of the Iqaluit SCH project through consultation with Hunters and Trappers Association (HTA), elders, outfitters, and a Boaters’ Working Group.
Community Engagement Program
Consultation with the community, including hunters, fishers, residents, City Mayor and Council, HTA, Qikiqtani Inuit Association, outfitters, the Boater’s Working Group, and others has been on-going since June, 2016. Meetings, interviews, workshops and open houses were used to share information and receive comments, concerns and suggestions about the Project both in English and Inuktitut, as well as in written French and Inuinnaqtun. The incorporation of recommendations and information received has greatly improved the design and planning of the SCH. Consultation will continue during the detailed design stage and construction of the Project.