KANIQTUGAAPIK/CLYDE RIVER - Several simultaneous development projects in Clyde River have led to a surge in employment in the north Baffin community and a shortage of workers in some fields.

"We're in a little bit of trouble finding qualified drivers right now," said hamlet administrator Bill Buckle. "Everyone's out driving rock trucks or heavy equipment."

Last month qualified people in Clyde River had a wealth of possible employers including Kudlik Construction, Qikiqtaaluk Logistics and the Clyde River Housing Association.

Kudlik is building Clyde River's new sewage lagoon and constructing the Piqqusilirivvik Cultural School which will draw students from across Nunavut. Qikiqtaaluk Logistics is building a road to the old U.S. Coast Guard navigation site at Cape Christian and conducting remediation operations there. Clyde River Housing is building 20 units this year and 12 more next year.

"It's good for everybody," Buckle said. "They get to pay down their debts."

According to one local resident, management at the Northern store had reduced its Friday hours because they were having a hard time filling all their shifts.

Between all these projects in town, finding accommodations is a challenge. The Qamaq Hotel is booked solid until the start of December, according to its manager Pierre Cloutier. That consists of six rooms in the hotel and two other houses with three rooms each.

Most of the hotel and bed-and-breakfast rooms in town are being rented by Kudlik, said Qikiqtaaluk Corporation's Jeremiah Groves. Groves said Qikiqtaaluk compensated for that by housing its out-of-town workers on site at Cape Christian, and many of the people working on that project are Clyde River residents with their own housing.

But once spring comes, both projects will be going high-speed at the same time as Piqqusilirivvik will be ready for electricians, plumbers and boilermakers to ply their respective trades. Kudlik already owns a couple of houses in town and rents another one, but Gelinas said the company might need to secure some more housing next June.