In 2008, the Government of Nunavut began an infrastructure consultation process to build Integrated Community Sustainability Plans (ICSPs). The goal in developing the ICSPs was to have a long term planning tool that allows communities to think systemically when planning to implement new infrastructure. Understanding factors of sustainable infrastructure planning such as municipal service requirements or community access roads will provide a holistic approach for the planning of capital infrastructure projects.

ICSPs are community-specific infrastructure profiles that explain the current infrastructure situation in each Nunavut community and identify future infrastructure needs and goals. ICSPs also provide a breakdown of all community infrastructure assets and allow for future infrastructure planning based on individual community goals. ICSPs identify the short, medium and long term infrastructure requirements of each community.

Creation of the ICSPs was the first step in taking a proactive planning approach to addressing Nunavut’s infrastructure issues. The ongoing maintenance of the ICSPs will continue to bring this initiative forward and further develop more comprehensive infrastructure plans for each community. ICSPs will be updated annually and will reflect changes in demographics, economic goals and other community specific realities.

The Government of Nunavut has gone a step further in the development of an infrastructure planning resource by creating this online toolkit to house each community ICSP as well as give the authority to update and maintain the ICSPs to the Hamlet administrators.

The toolkit is equipped with a number of community specific resources, this will assist with long term planning, and the tool will continue to evolve as the needs of the communities evolve. This integrated approach incorporates resources from all Government of Nunavut departments, providing hamlets with the tools needed to plan long term.