A Study of Enterprise in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut: Where Subsistence Self-Employment Meets Formal Entrepreneurship

Abstract

In Rankin Inlet, where formal enterprises are few, considerable entrepreneurial activity takes place in the informal sector. To supplement income, it is common to engage in subsistence self-employment such as hunting or fishing; food derived therefrom is shared but not sold. A road linking Rankin Inlet with the rest of Canada would allow freight to be transported from Manitoba to Rankin Inlet all year long, thereby reducing living costs in Rankin Inlet, and might possibly reduce dependence on subsistence hunting and fishing.