Nunavut is Canada's largest and newest territory — a vast Arctic land where polar bears patrol the sea ice, narwhals pierce the frozen waters and the midnight sun illuminates the tundra for weeks on end. Covering 20% of Canada's landmass, with an 85% Inuit population and some of the most spectacular landscapes on the planet, Nunavut offers experiences found nowhere else on Earth. Here are the 20 must-do experiences.
To explore further, see our provinces and territories guide and our Discover Nunavut article. The unique landscapes of this region are also covered in our Canadian geography guide. Canada's wildlife and wilderness is equally remarkable here. You can also explore Top 20 — territoires nord ouest.html and Top 20 — yukon.html.
Nunavut is home to two-thirds of the world's polar bear population. Unlike Churchill (Manitoba), here the bears are observed in their true habitat — on the sea ice, hunting seals. Communities like Pond Inlet, Arctic Bay and Resolute offer Inuit-guided expeditions to the floe edge, where polar bears patrol the ice margin. A raw, authentic experience as close as you can get to the king of the Arctic.
Pond Inlet is the best place in the world to see narwhals, those mysterious whales whose spiralling tusk can reach 3 metres. Each summer, hundreds of narwhals pass through Eclipse Sound in spectacular groups. Boat trips or floe edge excursions allow you to observe them from just metres away. The narwhal appears on the Canadian two-dollar coin and is one of Nunavut's symbols.
Cunningham Inlet on Somerset Island is the best place in the world to observe beluga whales. Each summer, thousands of white belugas gather in the inlet's shallow, warm waters to rub against the gravel bottom and moult their skin. The sight of these white whales in turquoise waters, 800 km north of the Arctic Circle, is one of the most extraordinary wildlife experiences on the planet.
Nunavut is home to the world's largest muskox population — these prehistoric giants, draped in qiviut (the warmest wool on Earth), have roamed the tundra since the Ice Age. Near Cambridge Bay, they can be spotted just kilometres from the community. The territory also hosts massive herds of barren-ground caribou, essential to Inuit culture and subsistence for millennia.
Did you know?
Nunavut covers 20% of Canada's landmass (2.1 million km²) — that's larger than Mexico. Yet its population is barely 40,000 people spread across 25 communities, all of which are inaccessible by road. It has the lowest population density in the entire country: 0.02 people/km².
Kinngait is the world capital of Inuit art. Since 1959, artists at the West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative have produced prints, lithographs and soapstone sculptures recognized in the world's greatest museums. The Kinngait Studios are the oldest professional printmaking studios in Canada. Visitors can tour the workshops, meet the artists and acquire works directly. An essential pilgrimage for art lovers.
Inuit throat singing is a unique vocal art where two women stand face to face and produce rhythmic, guttural sounds that interweave into a single hypnotic voice. Recognized by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage, katajjaq is at once a game, an art form and an ancestral tradition. Performances can be experienced at the Alianait Festival (June) and Toonik Tyme (spring) in Iqaluit, or in communities across the territory.
Learning to build an igloo with an Inuit hunter or elder is an unforgettable cultural experience. In Igloolik (whose name means "place of many igloos"), local guides take you onto the tundra to build your own snow house and spend the night wrapped in caribou-skin blankets. You also learn to light a qulliq (traditional seal-oil lamp).
Nunavut's Legislative Assembly is a one-of-a-kind building whose interior resembles a giant igloo. The seats are covered in sealskin, the ceremonial mace is made from a narwhal tusk, and debates are conducted in four official languages (Inuktitut, Inuinnaqtun, French, English). Free guided tours explain the consensus-based system of government — without political parties — unique in Canada.
Did you know?
"Nunavut" means "our land" in Inuktitut. Created on April 1, 1999, it is Canada's newest territory, born from the largest Indigenous land claims agreement in Canadian history. Nunavut's Legislative Assembly operates by consensus without political parties — a model unique in Canada inspired by traditional Inuit decision-making.
Auyuittuq ("the land that never melts") is home to Mount Thor, which boasts the world's greatest uninterrupted vertical drop — a 1,250-metre sheer cliff face at an angle of 105 degrees. The 97 km trek through Akshayuk Pass, between granite peaks and glaciers, is one of the most spectacular hikes on the planet. The park straddles the Arctic Circle, with 24 hours of daylight in summer.
Traversing the legendary Northwest Passage by expedition ship is one of the world's most exclusive maritime adventures. This route that European explorers sought for centuries winds through spectacular fjords, ice fields and remote Inuit communities. Expect polar bears, walruses, belugas and remnants of the lost Franklin Expedition (1845). Only a few dozen complete crossings take place each year.
The floe edge is the magical line where sea ice meets open ocean — nicknamed the "line of life" of the Arctic. In spring, it becomes a spectacular convergence point for wildlife: narwhals, belugas, walruses, seals and seabirds all gather there. Visitors reach it by dogsled or snowmobile over the sea ice from Pond Inlet or Arctic Bay. A world of ice, light and breathtaking wildlife.
Dog sledding (qamutik) is the ancestral Inuit mode of transport and an unparalleled way to cross the Arctic landscape. Pulled by a team of Canadian sled dogs, the qamutik glides over snow and sea ice in near-total silence. Day trips to multi-day expeditions are available. Each April, the dogsled race at the Toonik Tyme festival in Iqaluit draws competitors from across the territory.
Sirmilik ("place of glaciers") protects one of Canada's richest Arctic ecosystems. Bylot Island hosts a migratory bird sanctuary with over 70 species, including the largest colony of thick-billed murres in the Canadian Arctic. The park is home to narwhals, polar bears, caribou and seals. The red cliffs of Oliver Sound and spectacular glaciers create a landscape of striking beauty.
The name means "place where the sun does not rise" — a reference to the winter polar night. Created in 2015, this park protects the Peary caribou herd, one of Canada's most endangered species. Located among the country's most northerly islands, it's a polar desert of austere, silent beauty. In summer, the midnight sun bathes the landscape in an unreal golden light for weeks.
Above the Arctic Circle, the sun does not set for weeks in summer — a magical phenomenon where the golden light of the "midnight sun" transforms the landscape. In Iqaluit, the sun shines nearly 21 hours a day in June. In Grise Fiord, Canada's northernmost community, the sun doesn't set for four months. In winter, the polar night offers the reverse: skies of deep blue and dazzling northern lights.
Nunavut sits directly beneath the auroral oval, making it one of the best places on Earth to see the northern lights. Called aqsarniit in Inuktitut, the auroras dance across the Arctic sky with extraordinary intensity due to the total absence of light pollution. From September to April, polar nights deliver green, purple and red light shows that fill the entire sky.
Did you know?
Nunavut has four national parks (Auyuittuq, Sirmilik, Ukkusiksalik and Qausuittuq) with two more in development. The territory has the longest coastline of any Canadian jurisdiction and contains about two-thirds of Canada's islands. Baffin Island, the largest island in Nunavut, is also Canada's largest island and the 5th largest in the world.
Arctic char is Nunavut's iconic fish and a pillar of the Inuit diet for millennia. Fishing for char in crystal-clear Arctic rivers is an extraordinary experience — the fish reach spectacular sizes in these cold, pristine waters. The Tree River near Cambridge Bay and Nettilling Lake on Baffin Island are among the top destinations. Ice fishing in winter is equally memorable.
Pangnirtung ("Pang"), nestled beneath spectacular mountains on Cumberland Sound, is famous for its woven tapestries and prints. The Uqqurmiut Centre for Arts and Crafts produces internationally recognized tapestries and annual print collections. With its position as the gateway to Auyuittuq National Park and its glacier-lined fjord, Pangnirtung is one of the most photogenic villages in the Canadian Arctic.
Foxe Basin and the waters around Southampton Island are home to one of the largest walrus populations in the Arctic. From Coral Harbour, boat excursions allow you to watch these one-tonne giants lounging on rocks or swimming in icy waters. The community also offers Thule archaeological sites (ancestors of the Inuit) and the chance to observe Arctic wildlife in a remote, authentic setting.
Grise Fiord (Aujuittuq in Inuktitut, "place that never thaws") is Canada's northernmost inhabited community, located just 1,500 km from the North Pole. With a population of approximately 130 people, it's a place of extraordinary isolation where traditional Inuit culture is alive and thriving. The surrounding fjord offers breathtaking landscapes, and Arctic wildlife — polar bears, narwhals, walruses — is found literally at the village doorstep.
For the citizenship test: Nunavut was created on April 1, 1999, making it Canada's newest territory. Its name means "our land" in Inuktitut. Iqaluit (formerly Frobisher Bay) is the capital. Nunavut is Canada's largest territory and its population is approximately 85% Inuit. The Legislative Assembly operates by consensus without political parties. Nunavut was born from the largest Indigenous land claims agreement in Canadian history (Nunavut Agreement, 1993). Check our provinces and territories guide to review the essential facts.