Arctic health poorer in Canada

A snowmobiler makes his way through the ice on Frobisher Bay outside of Iqaluit. Canada’s Arctic capital of 7,000, like other Arctic communities, is growing rapidly, in part due to migration from smaller communities, according to the second Arctic Human Development Report. 
Photo Credit: Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press

The well-being of northerners in Canada Arctic compares poorly with people in other polar regions of the world, according to a long-running study.

Canadians rank at best in the middle of the pack on infant mortality, tuberculosis, fatal accidents, homicide or suicide, reports the second Arctic Human Development Report.

However, Canada leads the world in other things like innovative governance structures that allow for local participation. The report compares the Arctic regions of Canada, the U.S., Russia, Greenland, Iceland, Scandianavia and regions like the Faroe Islands.

In general, the study found health is strongest in countries like Norway and Finland, where there is little difference between north and south, indigenous and non-indigenous.

The Russian Arctic consistently fares the worst.