Nunavut recorded 22,800 trips by non-Nunavut residents from July through September 2025. Commercial air accounted for 15,800 of those trips and cruise ships for 7,000. Visitors spent $46.1 million during the same period, while the average commercial-air trip lasted 15.5 nights. These figures describe a seasonal tourism period and exclude trips made by Nunavut residents.
Contents
- Visitor volume and visitor origins
- How visitors reached Nunavut
- Activities reported by air travellers
- Spending and trip duration
- Communities visited
- Protected areas and cruise scale
Visitor volume and visitor origins
The latest detailed territory-wide tourism measurement covers July to September 2025. Statistics Canada counted 22,800 trips to Nunavut by non-Nunavut residents during that period. The measure is based on visitors departing by commercial air or cruise ship, so it should not be read as a count of every movement into the territory or as a count of unique people. Statistics Canada, “Nunavut tourism, July to September 2025”
Residents of Canada outside Nunavut made 16,000 trips, representing 70.2% of all trips. Ontario was the largest named provincial source, with 4,900 trips, or 21.5% of the total. British Columbia residents made 2,700 trips, or 11.8%, while Manitoba residents made 1,900 trips, or 8.3%.
International markets also contributed a substantial share. United States residents made 3,700 trips, equal to 16.2% of all trips. Overseas residents made 3,100 trips, or 13.6%. The percentages are shares of trips in July–September 2025, not shares of annual visitors.
| Visitor residence | Trips | Share of all trips |
|---|---|---|
| Canada excluding Nunavut | 16,000 | 70.2% |
| Ontario | 4,900 | 21.5% |
| British Columbia | 2,700 | 11.8% |
| Manitoba | 1,900 | 8.3% |
| United States | 3,700 | 16.2% |
| Overseas | 3,100 | 13.6% |
The residence categories are not mutually exclusive: Ontario, British Columbia, and Manitoba are included within Canada excluding Nunavut. Reading the table this way avoids adding the provincial figures to the national-excluding-Nunavut total.
How visitors reached Nunavut
Air travel was the main access mode in the July–September 2025 measurement. Commercial-air trips numbered 15,800, or 69.3% of all non-Nunavut-resident trips. Cruise ships accounted for 7,000 trips, or 30.7%. Together, those two modes form the coverage of the exit-survey statistics.
Trip purpose was almost evenly divided, although business travel was slightly higher. Business was the main purpose for 11,800 trips, or 51.8%. Personal travel was the main purpose for 11,000 trips, or 48.2%. The purpose figures describe the main purpose assigned to each trip; they do not say that business travellers did no sightseeing or that personal travellers did not visit for other reasons. Statistics Canada, “Nunavut tourism, July to September 2025”
The latest quarterly release also reports that Nunavut visitor trips decreased 8.8% year over year in Q3 2025, compared with Q3 2024. That change applies to the visitor-trip measure for the quarter, not to a full-year total. Statistics Canada, “The Daily — Nunavut Air Exit Survey and Nunavut Cruise Exit Survey, third quarter 2025”
Activities reported by air travellers
Activity percentages provide a useful picture of what commercial-air visitors reported doing after arriving. These figures cover trips departing Nunavut by commercial air in Q3 2025 and Q3 2024. Travellers could report multiple activities on one trip, so the percentages should not be added together and do not represent mutually exclusive visitor segments. Statistics Canada, “Percentage of trip activities reported by visitors departing Nunavut by commercial air, third quarter, 2024 and 2025”
Business meetings, conferences, or seminars were reported on 54.6% of commercial-air trips in Q3 2025, up from 46.3% in Q3 2024. Sightseeing was reported on 51.8% of trips in 2025, compared with 58.1% in 2024. Those two categories show why Nunavut travel statistics should not be reduced to leisure tourism alone: business-related travel was the most frequently reported activity in the latest period, while sightseeing was also reported on more than half of air trips.
Several visitor activities were reported on roughly one-third of commercial-air trips in Q3 2025. Dining out or going to a restaurant, bar, or club was reported on 39.7%, and shopping on 37.7%. Wildlife viewing or birdwatching was reported on 31.6%, museum or art-gallery visits on 31.1%, and hiking or backpacking on 30.8%.
Visits to a national, territorial, or nature park were reported on 29.7% of trips in Q3 2025. Visits to a historic site were reported on 27.6%. Visiting friends or family was reported on 19.8%.
| Activity reported on commercial-air trips | Q3 2024 | Q3 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Business meeting, conference, or seminar | 46.3% | 54.6% |
| Sightseeing | 58.1% | 51.8% |
| Dining out, restaurant, bar, or club | 45.1% | 39.7% |
| Shopping | 35.3% | 37.7% |
| Wildlife viewing or birdwatching | 38.0% | 31.6% |
| Museum or art-gallery visit | 31.7% | 31.1% |
| Hiking or backpacking | 35.4% | 30.8% |
| National, territorial, or nature park | 29.3% | 29.7% |
| Historic site | 34.6% | 27.6% |
| Visiting friends or family | 17.8% | 19.8% |
The comparison is descriptive rather than a measure of individual traveller preferences. A single commercial-air trip may appear in several activity rows, and the dataset does not establish why any activity percentage changed between the two third quarters.
Spending and trip duration
Non-Nunavut-resident visitors spent $46.1 million in Nunavut from July through September 2025. Accommodation was the largest listed spending category at $31.9 million. Food and beverage spending was $8.3 million, followed by local transportation at $2.3 million and clothing and gifts at $2.0 million.
The remaining listed categories were smaller: recreation and entertainment accounted for $880,900, and other spending for $715,200. These are reported spending amounts for the period, not an annual tourism-economy estimate. Statistics Canada, “Nunavut tourism, July to September 2025”
| Spending category | July–September 2025 spending |
|---|---|
| Accommodation | $31.9 million |
| Food and beverage | $8.3 million |
| Local transportation | $2.3 million |
| Clothing and gifts | $2.0 million |
| Recreation and entertainment | $880,900 |
| Other | $715,200 |
Average visitor expenditure was $2,000 per trip in Q3 2025. Over the same quarter, average trip duration for commercial-air travellers rose to 15.5 nights. These measures use different descriptions: average expenditure is reported per visitor trip, while the duration statistic specifically refers to commercial-air travellers.
Total visitor spending increased 4.5% year over year to $46.1 million in Q3 2025, even as visitor trips decreased 8.8%. The two changes are reported by Statistics Canada for Q3 2025 compared with Q3 2024; they should not be used to calculate an unreported average spending change. Statistics Canada, “The Daily — Nunavut Air Exit Survey and Nunavut Cruise Exit Survey, third quarter 2025”
Communities visited
Air and cruise travel produced different community patterns in July–September 2025. Among air travellers, Iqaluit recorded 9,000 visits, Cambridge Bay recorded 5,900, and Rankin Inlet recorded 4,500. These are community visits by air travellers, not necessarily unique visitors or overnight stays.
Cruise-ship visits were concentrated in a different set of reported community counts. Cambridge Bay recorded 4,000 cruise-ship visits, Gjoa Haven recorded 3,400, and Pond Inlet recorded 2,900. Cambridge Bay therefore appears in both the air and cruise figures, but the measures refer to separate travel modes and should not be combined as a single visitor count without additional information. Statistics Canada, “Nunavut tourism, July to September 2025”
For trip planning, the community figures are best read as indicators of where measured travel activity was recorded during the summer quarter. They do not provide a complete ranking of every Nunavut community, and they do not indicate how long travellers stayed in each place.
Protected areas and cruise scale
Parks Canada recorded 269 visits to Nunavut-administered national parks in fiscal 2022–23. That was 529% higher than fiscal 2021–22, but still 60% below fiscal 2019–20. These are fiscal-year visits to Parks Canada-administered places in Nunavut, not total tourism visits across the territory. Parks Canada, “Appearance before the Standing Committee – March 19, 2024”
Government of Nunavut indicators provide a separate view of cruise activity in 2024. Twenty-three cruise vessels arrived in Nunavut, bringing 5,150 passengers. The vessels made 104 community visits and visited 11 Nunavut communities. These are cruise-vessel and passenger counts for 2024, not the July–September 2025 exit-survey totals.
The same 2025–26 Fiscal and Economic Indicators document cites previous estimates of around 50,000 travellers in a normal tourist year. That figure is explicitly a normal-year estimate and contextual benchmark, rather than a directly measured 2025 total. Government of Nunavut, “2025–26 Fiscal and Economic Indicators”
Taken together, the measures show a tourism system shaped by seasonal access, commercial air travel, cruise itineraries, business trips, cultural and outdoor activities, and long stays. The periods and definitions matter: Q3 figures cover July–September, fiscal-year park figures cover a different reporting cycle, and the normal-year visitation number remains an estimate rather than a verified annual count.