Living in Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories.

It’s been almost 3 years since we’ve lived in Tuktoyaktuk.  If you’re hoping to pack up and move to Tuk and start a new life, you might want to think hard on that dream.  Is life hard here?  Yes.  Unless you find a good paying job and you move into a new house, it’s not going to be easy.  The cost of living is three time more than anywhere else.  Is getting a job here easy?  No, unless you’re highly educated, or you have some Inuit background.  Mostly in Tuk, they hire people who are Inuvialuit.  Even if you have found a good paying job, you’re going to have a hard time finding a decent place to live.  People here who are renting out houses mostly ignore outsiders with their inquires.  I think it’s because their fed up with people who come here only for 6 months to 1 year and then leave.  The only people who’ll respond to your search for residence are the people who are renting out crappy, cold houses, and it won’t be cheap.  If you have a government job, you may be able to rent from Tuk housing, but no one will tell you about it until after you’ve suffered through a inhumane winter in Tuk.  Once you manage to move to a nice, new, warm house, it’ll be cheaper to live, easier, but the size of it won’t be preferable.  Hopefully you don’t have a big family. 

Fun and entertainment:  There isn’t much, unless you’re really into winter sports, drinking and partying…

Shopping: There’s two stores here and a little bit more shopping in Inuvik.  It’s a 2-hour drive to Inuvik, depending on the weather, which can change on a dime.  The road gets closed often.  Good thing there’s a highway to Inuvik now though.  Before it was a 3 -hour drive down an ice road, which was unpredictable and only open from maybe December to mid or end of April.  Again, storms could brew up quickly.  

Inuvik Tuktoyaktuk Highway

Oh, and you can’t buy alcohol here.  There aren’t any restaurants here.  There are B and Bs here.  Cable isn’t an easy option.  There’s internet, but it’s costly.  There’s an airport here, but because of the highway that was created at the end of 2017, there aren’t any scheduled flights anymore.  There isn’t a pharmacy here, but you can have the pharmacy fill your prescription at one of the pharmacies in Inuvik and they send it to you through medical bus.  There are no doctors, dentists, eye doctors here, but they come to visit once a month.  There is a Health Centre with nurses.  There are taxis here, but they charge per person and if you have luggage…they’ll charge you extra for that. 
Summers here are inhumane.  Way too many bugs.  We don’t spend the summers here, but my son does.  He says the bugs are vicious.  However, there aren’t any ants!  Ants are everywhere, but not in the Arctic or Antarctica. 

3 times a week the garbage is picked up.  Recycling is also picked up on occasions. 

The septic truck comes either everyday or 3 time a week to empty your septic tank. 

Water is delivered everyday or 3 times a week.  The water is clean, it smells and tastes good…but it gives me heartburn.  People in Tuk usually don’t drink the water here.  I boil my water, then let it cool, before I drink 

Fuel is delivered for heat once a month. 

There is a school bus for students who live far from the school. 
It is peaceful here, except for occasional snow mobile at 4:30 in the morning.  I am happy here, or as happy as I can be.  At least we get to visit civilization once in a while.  We’re planning on spending another 9 years here.

People here are friendly and helpful…but I wouldn’t leave your door unlocked. 

And in case you weren't sure, we don't have any trees here, but a lot of drift wood finds its way to the beaches.