Actions and Commitments

Call to Action # 14: Language and Culture (13-17)

Inuktut as official language in Inuit Nunangat

July 6, 2018

Federal legislation should recognize Inuktut as official language in Inuit Nunangat: Inuit Tapariit Kanatami. As Indigenous leadership move into their final consultations over the summer, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami is pushing for Ottawa to ensure Inuktut is treated as culturally and politically distinct. The main points the working group has asked to see in the federal legislation:

  1. recognition of Inuktut as an official language within Inuit Nunangat
  2. the right for Inuktut speakers to access federal services in their own language
  3. streamlined access and eliminated gaps to language funding for different Inuit regions, particularly to give Nunavik and Nunatsiavut better access to those funds

One of the goals is to see Inuktut funded in the North at the same level as Canada’s other official languages, English and French.