IQALUIT - Nunavut's search and rescue programs could be getting new insurance policies this summer to cover volunteers if they are injured while on a search and rescue operation.

Director of protection services Ed Zebedee said a proposal has been made to switch insurance coverage for volunteers from the Worker's Safety and Compensation Commission (WSCC) to Namix, an insurance company that is used by communities throughout Nunavut.

Zebedee said the problem with insuring volunteers under the WSCC is that payments are made based on that person's income from the previous year - a policy that leaves some volunteers out in the cold.

"If he happens to be a subsistence hunter, his insurance, what he gets paid if he gets injured, is based on his income from the previous year," he said. "If he reports social assistance of $20,000 last year, what he gets is based on that reportable income."

Zebedee said Namix's policy would provide a minimum payment to those if injured while on an operation, regardless of income.

"We put a proposal to them looking at what it would cost us to change the insurance ... to something being covered under the Namix program," he said.

"They came up with a base salary, it doesn't matter if you had no reported income at all, there would be a minimum monthly payment if you were injured."

He said the Namix program could also cover insuring equipment such as snowmobiles and other machinery used on operations. Currently, if a search and rescue volunteer damages his equipment while on an operation, the repair costs are his own responsibility.

Zebedee said the changes are part of a new policy that will be brought to cabinet to address issues with current search and rescue operations in Nunavut.

"Within our division we're spending on average about $600,000 a year. That's not sustainable for us," he said.

He said costs for a single search and rescue operation can be up to $45,000.

Just chartering an aircraft to assist with an operation costs thousands of dollars an hour.

"I've got one five-hour helicopter charter here sitting on my desk and it's for $12,603 for five hours," he said. "To put up a Twin Otter for a 10-hour day we're looking at about $20,000."

Zebedee said 12 communities will participate in a three-day search and rescue training course this summer and new equipment such as amphibious vehicles that are capable of operating on snow and open water have been ordered.