Cambridge Bay - Location and Population

Location and Population

Situated between Dease Strait and Queen Maud Gulf on the southeast coast of Victoria Island (Kitlineq), part of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, Cambridge Bay is a transportation and administrative centre for the Kitikmeot Region. To the north of the community is Ferguson Lake (Inuinnaqtun: Tahiryuaq or Tahikyoak) which flows into Wellington Bay via the Ekalluk River. The Ekalluk River is both an important commercial fishing and archaeological area, and of particular importance is the short section of the river known as Iqaluktuuq.

About 37 km (23 mi) west of the community lie the Finlayson Islands which were surveyed by Sir Richard Collinson on board the Enterprise during his search for Sir John Franklin's lost expedition.

The area was a traditional hunting and fishing location and archaeological sites are often found. Barren-ground Caribou, muskox, Arctic char, lake trout and Ringed Seal were the primary, and remain important food sources. Situated east of Cambridge Bay is Ovayok Territorial Park, which includes the large esker known as Ovayok (Mount Pelly).

As of the 2006 census the population was 1,477, an increase of 12.8% from the 2001 census. The median age of the population is 26.3 and 69.3% of the people are over 15. Both of these figures are slightly higher than the numbers for Nunavut as a whole (23.1 and 66.1%). In 2006, 82.7% (Nunavut: 85.0%) of the population were listed as Aboriginal and 17.7% (Nunavut: 15%) as non-Aboriginal. Of the total population 78.9% (Nunavut: 84%) were Inuit, 1.7% (Nunavut: 0.4%) Métis and 1.4% (Nunavut: 0.3%) North American Indian.