News release

Tips for calling the Nunavut RCMP for emergencies

December 12, 2025 - Iqaluit, Nunavut
From: Nunavut RCMP

Content

The Nunavut RCMP would like to give some tips to the public, when calling for police during an emergency.

Please remember Nunavut does not have a 911 service. The Nunavut RCMP will require callers to dial the first three digits of the local phone line and then dial 1111. Example) Iqaluit RCMP emergency phone line is 979-1111.

When should I call for police?

• It is recommended calls be made in the case of emergencies where an immediate police response is required.

What constitutes and emergency?

• When someone’s life is in danger, a life-threatening situation where every second counts.
• When a crime is in progress: a fight, a theft, a break and enter, a prowler, a dangerous driver is on the road putting others at risk, animal attacks.
• Where there has been a motor vehicle accident, with injuries.

Tips from the Nunavut RCMP

• Identify your location. RCMP telecoms operators will need to know where you are so they can dispatch the help you need. If you don’t know the exact address, do your best to provide directions, identifiable markers like color of house/building, shacks, if there is a snowmobile/ATV parked at the location, or who the names of the neighbors are. This will assist the police in getting to your location faster.
• Do not assume the telecoms operator knows who you are and where you are calling from.
• Let the trained telecoms operator take control of the conversation and get all the necessary information. A RCMP Telecoms Operators is trained to work through the questions in a systematic order, so the questions may seem very quick and unnecessary. But this is the only way to gather the information as quickly as possible, so police can be safely dispatched.
• Answer all the questions. The telecoms operator will continue to ask you questions to gather information about you, and the situation, to pass on to police who are on the way to the scene. They may include who is involved, what is happening, if alcohol and drugs are involved, if any weapons are involved, call back number, and if anyone is injured.
• Do your best to stay calm. Speak clearly and give the telecoms operator as much details as possible.
• Remain where you are unless you are in danger.

Municipal Fire and Ambulance Services

Every community in Nunavut, other then Iqaluit, rely on local volunteers for their fire and ambulance service and every community has a different phone number. It is recommended that you become familiar with the phone numbers for your local fire and ambulance service. If you do not know what those numbers are, you can phone the Nunavut RCMP emergency phone line for assistance.

Nunavut RCMP detachments contact number

For more information about what the local RCMP phone numbers are in each Nunavut community, please visit the following link: https://rcmp.ca/en/nunavut/detachments

Contacts