Inuvik

Inuvik was built from 1955 as a planned replacement for flood-prone Aklavik, and everything about it answers permafrost: buildings stand on piles driven into frozen ground so their heat cannot thaw it, and the water, sewer and heating lines run above ground through insulated aluminium boxes called utilidors that snake between buildings, because burying them is impossible. Our Lady of Victory church, built by a missionary and volunteers in the 1950s, is a dome shaped like an igloo. The sun stays up continuously for about fifty-six days from late May, and stays down for about thirty days in the winter.

History

Inuvik was conceived in 1953 as a new administrative centre to replace Aklavik on the west of the Mackenzie Delta, which was prone to flooding and had no room to grow; first called New Aklavik, it was renamed Inuvik, Inuvialuktun for living place, in 1958. The school opened in 1959 and the hospital, government offices and staff houses in 1960, when Inuvialuit, Gwich'in and Métis people began to live in the town; it became a village in 1967 and a town in 1979, the year the Dempster Highway joined it to Canada's road network, and the year-round highway to Tuktoyaktuk opened in November 2017 (Wikipedia, Inuvik).

The main sights

• The utilidors - above-ground insulated service lines running through town.
• The igloo church - a domed 1950s church built by volunteers.
• The buildings on piles - structures raised off the permafrost.
• The midnight sun - continuous daylight for about fifty-six days.

When to go

June to September for the midnight sun and road access; winter brings the aurora and the ice road to Tuktoyaktuk was replaced by an all-season highway in 2017. Winter darkness runs about thirty days.

Good to know

Everything is expensive, since supplies come up the Dempster or by air. The igloo church has limited visiting hours. Winter temperatures reach minus forty with darkness.

Nearby

Tuktoyaktuk lies north on the highway; the Dempster runs south.

Key facts