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IQALUIT - The largest group of new Canadian Rangers ever graduated from their training in Iqaluit March 1, breaking their formation at the end of the ceremony with a rousing cheer.

Fifty-six recruits from across Nunavut, NWT and Yukon gathered in Iqaluit for the six-day course, bringing the total number of new Rangers trained in the past five months to 122.

Myles Pedersen of Kugluktuk graduated from the DP1 Canadian Ranger training program in Iqaluit March 1. - Jennifer Geens/NNSL photo

There are 1,622 Rangers total in the North, divided among 56 community patrols.

“Being enlisted shows how much one cares for others,” Nunavut Commissioner Ann Meekitjuk Hansen told the graduates, citing Rankin Inlet's Ollie Ittinuar, 88, as an example of a Ranger who had “volunteered many years to improve the lives of others.”

Centralized training is a new approach that differs from the old system where instructors visited patrols in each community. Before, a visiting instructor's attention was divided between new recruits and training existing members, said Maj. Luc Chang, commanding officer for the 1st Canadian Ranger Patrol Group.

“By centralizing we can commit a full staff to focus on the students,” he said. “And they are also now exposed to other communities' Rangers from the start.”

He said holding the course alternately in Yellowknife, Iqaluit and Whitehorse also provides an arena for cultural exchange. “Here we have people from Yukon and the NWT learning the Nunavut side of things,” he said of the Iqaluit course.

Quttiktuq MLA Ron Elliott attended the ceremony and witnessed the graduation of two new Rangers he had known since they were cadets in Arctic Bay.

"It's nice to see people stepping up," he said. "They're taking on a responsibility they don't have to take on."

Chang said the qualifications to enter Ranger training are simple. An applicant must be 18 years old or over, fit to go in the field and motivated.

“We take care of everything else,” said Chang.

The basic course for Ranger recruits includes training in first aid, firearms and GPS equipment.

Myles Pedersen of Kugluktuk gave the centralized course a glowing review.

He was a Junior Ranger for six years and joined the Canadian Rangers when he was “finally old enough.”

The best part of training in such a large group was “meeting all the new people and getting to know everybody, all 56 of us,” he said.

“We got lots of help to get through everything.”

Pasa Aulaqiaq, 25, of Qikiqtarjuaq had a more difficult time leaving home for the course, as it was hard being away from her two-year-old son.

“I called home every day,” she said. “The first time I called, he said 'Anaana, come,' and started to cry.”

She said the experience was scary at first, and she spent the first few days mostly with her fellow recruits from Qik. But after three or four days she got to know the others.

Chang said the Canadian Forces aims for about 40 Rangers per community patrol, and most average about 35 at the moment.

“We're still capable of sending an instructor (to a community) where there's a large group, say 15 or so, that needs training,” he said.