Iqaluit (Oct 30/06) - Statistics Canada has confirmed what anyone who works with kids in Nunavut already knew: our territory has Canada's youngest population.

Although predictable, the numbers are revealing. Just over 44 per cent of the territory is 19 years old or younger. The only region that comes close to Nunavut's youth is the NWT, with 32.4 per cent of their population being 19 or less. The Canadian average is 24 per cent.

Nunavummiut value their elders, but they are scarce. There are fewer seniors in Nunavut than anywhere else in the country. Only 2.9 per cent of the population of Nunavut is 65 years old or older.

"My population is young. We are going to need housing and transportation. That's a no-brainer," said Taloyoak Mayor Jimmy Oleekatalik.

"I've been here for eight years, and it is no surprise," said of the statistics.

Oleekatalik left his job as recreation co-ordinator for the hamlet to become mayor, so he has first-hand knowledge about the kids in Taloyoak.

"I had 350 kids there under 16, and that was a couple of years ago. It is still pretty much the same," said Oleekatalik. "I know for sure that the federal government has to realize this, and start putting in offices and homes. Myself and my kids, we can't live on the land like my old man did."

Sanikiluaq has been growing in leaps and bounds since Nuiyak school principal John Jamieson arrived. "When I first came here there were 78 kids in school, now there are 300. We had a staff of six and now we have a staff of 24," said Jamieson.

"We get a lot of young girls, Grade Nine and Grade 10, getting pregnant. That's why we have a daycare. It really helps, they can put their child in daycare and go to school," said Jamieson.

"It is a lot harder to plan," said Jonathan Bird, principal at Qiqirtaq Ilihakvik in Gjoa Haven, where's he's worked for eight years. "We have 400 students in a community of 1,100 people... I remember in my first year we had a senior class of six or seven, now we are closer to 20."