What it costs to live and work in Nunavut: the minimum wage, provincial income tax, sales tax and rent, from official sources, and what they mean for your monthly budget.
| Nunavut | Source | |
|---|---|---|
| General minimum wage | $20.17 an hour | Government of Nunavut public service announcement: Nunavut's minimum wage increases September 1 to $20.17 per hour |
| Provincial income tax | 4 % to 11.5 % | Canada Revenue Agency: Tax rates and income brackets for individuals, current year (2026) |
| Sales tax | 5 % GST | Canada Revenue Agency: GST/HST calculator (and rates) |
| Rent (Median monthly shelter cost of renter households not in subsidized housing (rent plus utilities paid by the household); the median for all renter households is $408 because most rent subsidized housing) | $1,410 a month (2021) | Statistics Canada, Census 2021, table 98-10-0253-01: Shelter cost by tenure including presence of mortgage payments and subsidized housing |
The general minimum wage is $20.17 an hour since September 1, 2026, up from $19.75 and the highest in Canada. It is adjusted each year using the Iqaluit consumer price index and Nunavut's average hourly wage; the 2027 rate is not out yet.
For 2026, Nunavut taxes the first $55,801 of taxable income at 4 % and income over $181,439 at 11.5 %, across four brackets. The basic personal amount is $19,659.
Nunavut has no territorial sales tax; only the 5 % GST applies.
What income does rent in Nunavut take?
A common guideline is to keep housing at or below 30 % of gross income. At $1,410 a month, that means a household income of about $56,400 a year before tax.
Good to know
- In 2021, 6,890 of Nunavut's 8,025 renter households (about 86 %) lived in subsidized housing, with a median shelter cost of $282 a month; renters outside subsidized housing paid a median of $1,410.
- All of Nunavut is in the prescribed northern zone: qualifying residents can deduct $11 a day, plus $11 a day more if they kept and lived in their own home and nobody else in it claims the basic amount (2025 rates).
Sources
- Government of Nunavut public service announcement: Nunavut's minimum wage increases September 1 to $20.17 per hour (2026-06-30)
- Canada Revenue Agency: Tax rates and income brackets for individuals, current year (2026) (2026-06-25)
- Canada Revenue Agency: GST/HST calculator (and rates) (2025-04-01)
- Statistics Canada, Census 2021, table 98-10-0253-01: Shelter cost by tenure including presence of mortgage payments and subsidized housing (2022-09-21)
- Canada Revenue Agency: T4127 Payroll Deductions Formulas, 122nd edition, effective January 1, 2026 (2025-11-20)
- Canada Revenue Agency: Line 25500, Northern residents deductions (2026-01-20)