A team from the Nunavik health board will travel to every community in the region this year to establish a plan for dealing with climate change and its impact on the health of Nunavimmiut.

The Quebec government is partly funding the trip following the 2020 release of its Plan for a Green Economy 2030, which calls on all regions in the province to report on links between climate change and their population’s health.

Its aim is to allow regions to develop their own public health climate adaptation plans.

“When we are talking about health, we are also including physical, mental and social health,” Gille Delaunais, the Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services’ climate change and sustainable development adviser, said in a French interview.

This tour is intended to “build a portrait to have better planning, and a better look into the impacts of climate change in the future on the health of the population.”

It will begin this spring and end in September. Dates and locations are yet to be determined.

Delaunais said she and her team plan to speak on community radio stations and to organize local events to speak to as many people as possible.

What will result is a plan focused specifically on the needs of Nunavimmiut.

“We hope that with this tour, the portrait that we will end up having with the information we acquired will permit us to get more resources from the government of Quebec” such as funding and health-care support, she said.

Delaunais said a major issue unique to Nunavik is the melting of the permafrost.

“We really want to hear how climate change affects [Nunavimmiut’s] health,” she said, adding that it’s important for everyone to provide their opinions.