Voter participation within Inuit communities during the 2025 federal elections experienced a decline, prompting calls for improved engagement with local residents. Elections Canada recently released a report on the estimated voter turnout in Indigenous communities during the 45th general election held in April 2025.
Over the past three federal elections, voter turnout in Inuit communities decreased from 43.6% in 2019 to 30.2% in 2025, while the national average turnout stood at 69.5% last year. However, the trend varied across different regions.
Compared to the 2021 federal elections, voter turnout actually increased for Inuit residents in the Inuvialuit region of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut by 7.5% and 1.6% respectively, with turnout rates hovering around 35%. Similar patterns were observed among Inuit in the Nunatsiavut region of Newfoundland and Labrador, where there was a slight 2.5% decrease from 2021.
In 2025, the data was significantly impacted by the low voter turnout in Nunavik, a region within the Abitibi–Baie-James–Nunavik–Eeyou riding in Quebec. Only 14.7% of Inuit voters participated in the elections last year, nearly half of the turnout rate seen in 2021.
Elections Canada attributed this low turnout partially to the early closure or non-opening of polling stations in most of Nunavik’s 14 villages due to adverse weather conditions and staff shortages on election day. The agency acknowledged shortcomings in prior outreach efforts and meaningful engagement with all Nunavik communities, including those that had voting services.
Pita Aatami, the president of Makivvik representing Inuit in Nunavik, emphasized the need for election officials to actively engage with communities and fulfill their responsibilities to ensure proper voter turnout. Aatami also raised concerns about voter apathy and proposed making voting mandatory, similar to the census, as a potential solution to boost turnout. He suggested that implementing online voting, as done in Makivvik’s own elections, could facilitate increased participation. Ultimately, Aatami stressed the importance of individual accountability in exercising the right to vote.