Senior Homes in Igloolik, NU

Senior homes in Igloolik: a local guide

SeniorHome.ca lists one senior home in Igloolik: the Continuing Care Centre, on Igloolik Island. No starting monthly rate is published for it, and Igloolik is one of only a handful of Nunavut communities with any listed senior housing at all.

The Continuing Care Centre

The Continuing Care Centre in Igloolik is one of three Continuing Care Centres in Nunavut (the others are in Cambridge Bay and Gjoa Haven), together providing 28 beds across the territory. These centres are for elders assessed at Level 4 or 5 care — residential long-term care for complex needs — rather than the lighter assisted-living support offered at an Elders Home. Care types and pricing details are not broken out in our listing for this home; families should confirm current capacity, services and any resident costs directly with the Territorial Home and Continuing Care Program rather than assume a rate.

How Igloolik costs compare with the rest of Nunavut

No median starting rate is available for Igloolik, and none is available for Nunavut's other listed communities either — not Iqaluit (20 communities), not Baker Lake (2 communities), and not Sanikiluaq (1 community). That's because Nunavut has almost no private retirement-home market: elders' housing and long-term care beds are funded and operated by the Government of Nunavut's Department of Health, so there is no open monthly price list to compare the way there is in southern provinces. The practical comparison for a family is not price tier but proximity, language and whether a bed or an assessed program exists where the elder already lives. See our cost of senior living in Igloolik page for what we do know, and the territory-wide picture at senior homes in Nunavut.

Public long-term care and home care for Igloolik residents

One government runs the whole continuum in Nunavut: the Department of Health, with no separate regional health authority purchasing beds. The process starts at the local level: anyone can request a Home and Community Care assessment through the community health centre, no doctor's referral required. A health professional then assesses the elder's care level. Elders Homes serve those assessed at Level 2 or 3; Continuing Care Centres, including Igloolik's, serve those assessed at Level 4 or 5. Admission decisions are made jointly by the client and family or guardian, the regional care team, and the Department of Health's Territorial Continuing Care Coordinator, following the territory's prioritization criteria. Because residential long-term care capacity across Nunavut is limited — a territorial review counted only 44 beds territory-wide in 2014 — some Nunavummiut with complex needs, particularly dementia, are placed out of territory, always in consultation with family.

Given Igloolik's single listed home, families often also need to look at options in other Nunavut communities, especially where more choice exists; our data shows Iqaluit has by far the most listed communities in the territory.

How to choose a senior home in Igloolik

• Call the Igloolik community health centre to start a Home and Community Care assessment — this is the gateway to Elders Homes and Continuing Care Centres alike.
• Confirm Nunavut Health Care Plan enrolment and age eligibility (55+) for residential programs.
• Ask the Continuing Care Centre directly what care level it's designated for, current bed availability, and how its waiting list is prioritized.
• Ask whether Inuktut is spoken by staff and whether country food and Inuit cultural programming are part of daily life.
• Ask who covers travel costs for family visits and what, if any, costs fall to the resident.
• If no bed is available locally, ask the Territorial Continuing Care Coordinator to set out every option in writing, including care in another Nunavut community or out-of-territory placement, before deciding.
• Use a free care assessment to help match the elder's needs to the right program.

Sources

• Home, Community, and Continuing Care – Government of Nunavut, Department of Health
• Continuing Care in Nunavut, 2015 to 2035 – Legislative Assembly of Nunavut tabled document
• Elders Homes and Continuing Care Centres – Government of Nunavut listing, Nunavut 211