IQALUIT - The government of Nunavut is not likely to achieve its goal of a workforce representative of the general population in all departments by its target date of 2020, according to an auditor general's report.

Article 23 of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement requires the GN to staff public service positions with a workforce representative of the territory's Inuit population, which is currently 85 per cent.

In the report tabled in the legislative assembly March 18, Canada's Auditor General Sheila Fraser concluded the government will not have enough qualified Inuit to fill all those government positions by 2020.

"For the senior management, middle management, and professional categories, it is clear that the goal of 85 per cent representativeness by 2020 will not be achieved," the report states.

More Inuit would have to complete post-secondary education to be qualified for professional positions, the report also said.

The report stated that 30 per cent of students in Nunavut graduated from high school in the past five years and only a small number of them continued into post-secondary education.

Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. President Paul Kaludjak said while it was necessary to hire non-beneficiaries when the territory was first being established, it is now time to increase the number of Inuit in the workforce.

"We knew the government was getting set up and they would require skilled labour right away," he said. "Now we can start thinking about or even planning how to accommodate more Inuit in the workforce."

Fraser's report found 800 positions vacant (23 per cent) in the GN as of March 2009. In previous reports she had pointed to understaffing as hampering the government's ability to deliver some programs and services.

According to the report, it took an average of 318 days to fill a vacant position, and over a two-year period almost half of the GN's staffing competitions failed to recruit a worker. The report also stated casual and transferred employees are often used in order to fill positions quickly.

Minister of Human Resources Daniel Shewchuk said some of the problems identified in Fraser's report had already been recognized by the department, including the need to reduce dependence on casual employees.

"One of those things is lessening the number of casual employees that we have," he said.

Shewchuk said part of the solution is to open competition for jobs even if a casual employee has already been hired to fill the position.

"Initially, at the time the casual is hired, a competition should be initiated too," he said. "That casual (employee) has worked out for the short term, however, while that's going on you're actually going through the competition process to fill that position permanently."

The Department of Education fared the best out of the departments audited, the report said.

It took an average of 43 days to staff vacant positions and the department has methods in place to increase Inuit employment, including the Nunavut Teachers Education Program.

The report also found that beneficiaries hold 94 per cent of administrative positions in the territory and 23 per cent of senior management jobs.

When asked whether 2020 was still considered a realistic date, Shewchuk said the GN will continue to work towards its goal.

"I think the target is there, we're not going to change that target," he said.

"It is a big challenge to overcome, but we're going to work towards it and I'm not going to say whether we're going to reach it or not."