In 2025, voting participation in Inuit communities during the federal elections decreased once more, prompting leaders to advocate for enhanced community involvement. A recent report by Elections Canada examined the estimated voter turnout in Indigenous communities during the 45th general election in April 2025.
Over the past three federal elections, voter turnout in Inuit communities declined from 43.6% in 2019 to 30.2% in 2025, while the national average for voter turnout in Canada was 69.5% last year.
The voting trend varied across regions. In comparison to the 2021 federal election, there was an increase in voting rates among Inuit in the Inuvialuit region and Nunavut in the Northwest Territories, with turnout rates around 35%. Similarly, there was a slight decrease of 2.5% in voter turnout for Inuit in the Nunatsiavut region of Newfoundland and Labrador compared to 2021.
However, the data for 2025 was skewed by the low voter turnout in Nunavik, a part of the Abitibi–Baie-James–Nunavik–Eeyou riding in Quebec, where only 14.7% of Inuit voters participated, nearly half of the 2021 turnout rate.
Elections Canada attributed this low turnout partially to the early closure or non-opening of polling booths in most of Nunavik’s 14 villages due to adverse weather conditions and a lack of staff on election day. The agency acknowledged shortcomings in prior outreach efforts and meaningful engagement with all Nunavik communities, including those with voting services.
Pita Aatami, the president of Makivvik representing Inuit in Nunavik, emphasized the need for election officials to engage directly with communities and fulfill their responsibility to facilitate federal election voting without relying solely on external organizations like Makivvik.
Expressing concern about voter apathy, Aatami proposed making voting mandatory, similar to census participation, to potentially increase voter turnout. He also suggested that implementing online voting, as Makivvik has done in its own elections, could simplify the voting process for individuals.
In conclusion, Aatami stressed the importance of personal responsibility in voting, stating that individuals should not solely rely on leaders to encourage voting but should take the initiative themselves to participate in elections.
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