Grise Fiord

About Grise Fiord

Grise Fiord is Canada's most northerly community, located at N76º 25' W 82º 54',. It is situated on the southern coast of Ellesmere Island, overlooking Jones Sound. Its Inuit name, Aujuittuq, means “place that never thaws.” The community rests at the foot of 600 m high mountains, 1,544 km from the North Pole.

The community of Grise Fiord was created in 1953 when the Canadian government relocated 3 families from Port Harrison (now Inukjuak), Quebec. They were accompanied by one family from Pond Inlet who were to ease their adjustment to life in the High Arctic.

The original settlement was located on Lindstrom Peninsula, 8 km west of the present day location of the community. In 1962, the Inuit residents followed the RCMP to their new site at Grise Fiord, where the community remains. Several building structures at the "old camp" still stand. Otto Sverdrup, a Norwegian explorer, mapped the area at the turn of the century. The expedition’s ship spent the winter of 1899 in what Sverdrup named Harbour Fiord, the fiord west of Grise Fiord. After Sverdrup, the next non-Inuit to inhabit southern Ellesmere Island were members of the RCMP. The Canadian government established posts in the 1920’s. Plans were to build a detachment near Fram Fiord, but sea ice conditions during the summer of 1922 forced the government to build further east.

Population: 192

Contact

Email: @email
Phone: 867-980-9959
Fax: 867-980-9052
Website: www.grisefiord.ca