You were crossing at a corner on the way home, or walking the kids back from a friend's house as the light went, or walking the side of the road because there was no sidewalk. The driver didn't see you. You weren't in a vehicle at all, and now you're the one dealing with insurance.
A pedestrian hit by a vehicle in Nunavut can claim accident benefits for treatment and lost income, whether or not they own a vehicle. Nunavut has no 911, so if you're hurt, call your community's RCMP emergency line, which ends in 1111. Get assessed the same day, give an insurer written notice within 30 days, and start a dated record of your symptoms that day.
Being on foot doesn't put you outside the system. It puts you at the centre of it, because you had nothing around you when it happened.
Is a pedestrian covered after being hit by a car in Nunavut?
Yes. The standard auto policy in Nunavut includes accident benefits, and they cover a person on foot who is struck by the insured vehicle. They don't depend on who caused the crash, and you don't need to own a vehicle or hold a licence.
The standard policy pays up to $25,000 for medical and rehabilitation costs incurred within four years of the crash. If you were working and the injury keeps you from your job, it pays 80 percent of your gross weekly income, to a maximum of $140 a week, after the first seven days. That weekly benefit only applies if the injury stops you working within 30 days of the crash, so tell your nurse or doctor and your insurer as soon as work becomes impossible.
Why do the afternoons get so dark for people walking in Nunavut?
Because the clocks go back on Sunday 1 November and the last hour of afternoon light goes with them. In Iqaluit, the sun sets at 4:21 p.m. on Halloween and at 3:18 p.m. the next day. From then until early February it sets before 3:30 p.m., and on 21 December it sets at 1:41 p.m. For three months, the walk home from school and work happens in the dark.
Walking here often means sharing the road. In 2024, three people died in traffic incidents across Nunavut, two of them in Iqaluit, according to the Government of Nunavut's Traffic Safety Act report. Elders in Iqaluit have spoken out this year about how dangerous walking has become, with few sidewalks and often no choice but the side of the road.
Out trick-or-treating? If a child is hit by a car
Halloween falls in the riskiest stretch of the year for children on foot. Across Canada, more children under 15 are hurt as pedestrians in October than in any other month, with November close behind, and nearly a quarter are hurt in those two months, according to Transport Canada collision data for 2021 to 2023. This year Halloween falls on a Saturday, and in Iqaluit the sun sets at 4:21 p.m., so trick-or-treating happens in the dark. City fire and municipal enforcement staff patrol on Halloween night, and children can go to anyone in uniform for help. If the worst happens, here is what to do.
Call the RCMP and stay with your child. In Iqaluit, call 979-1111. In other communities, dial your local three digits, then 1111. If you don't know the local number, call 1-867-979-1111. Any collision where someone is hurt should be reported to police, even if the driver says it was nothing.
Get your child checked the same day. Children often can't describe what hurts, and a fall onto gravel or packed snow can hide an injury that shows up later. Tell the nurse or doctor your child was hit by a vehicle.
Be the one who keeps the record. Write down what your child said, how they slept, any change in mood or behaviour, and every school day missed. The record you keep is what shows how the weeks went. Our article on what families should write down goes further.
Send the claim forms on time. Children are covered by accident benefits like anyone else hurt by a vehicle. A child has longer to sue, but the written notice to the insurer is still due within 30 days.
Whose insurance does a pedestrian claim through in Nunavut?
The policy on the vehicle that hit you covers you. If someone in your household has an auto policy, call that insurer too, because it may also cover you on foot. You can recover only one benefit in total, so tell both insurers what happened, and write down who you spoke to and when.
If the driver left the scene, every Nunavut auto policy includes coverage for uninsured and unidentified drivers. Report it to police within 24 hours and give the insurer a written statement within 30 days.
If you were working when you were hit, tell your employer and the WSCC right away. You don't choose between compensation and suing the driver. The right to sue passes to the WSCC, and you can pursue a claim against the driver yourself only with its written consent. A claim for compensation has to be made within one year. Our article on being hurt at work in Nunavut explains how a claim works.
The Territories MVA Companion Guide sets out who to contact, along with the forms and the deadlines.
Does it matter who was at fault?
Not for accident benefits. Those pay for your treatment whoever caused the crash.
Fault matters for a separate claim against the driver, for everything accident benefits don't cover. With the weekly benefit capped at $140, much of a working person's lost pay has to come from that claim. It generally has to start within two years of the day of the crash, not the day you realized how badly you were hurt. Our article on car accident claim deadlines in the territories explains why the date matters.
Why do pedestrian injuries need extra care?
Because there's nothing between you and the vehicle. No seatbelt, no airbag, no frame. Even a slow impact can mean a fall onto gravel or ice, a head injury or a knee or hip that takes the full force.
Adrenaline hides a lot at the scene. Many people stand up, say they're fine and walk home, then wake up the next morning unable to move. Our article on why car accident injuries sometimes appear days later explains why, and why the date a symptom first appears matters so much.
What should you do in the first week?
Four things, in this order.
Get assessed, even if you feel alright. Tell the nurse or doctor you were hit by a vehicle while walking, and describe every symptom, including the small ones. If the health centre can't see you again for weeks, or you're waiting on a medical travel date, write down the reason each time, so a gap in treatment isn't read as recovery.
Make sure police know. Nunavut has no 911. Call your community's RCMP line, your local three digits followed by 1111. In Iqaluit that's 979-1111, and the non-emergency line is 867-979-0123. Save the number in your phone today.
Tell an insurer. Give written notice of your claim within 30 days, and proof of claim within 90 days. Our article on territories claim deadlines lists every date.
Start writing things down. Nobody else records the days between appointments. That part is yours.
What are you allowed to do?
You are allowed to make a claim even though you weren't in a vehicle.
You are allowed to see a nurse or doctor days later and say the pain arrived after the crash rather than at it.
You are allowed to say you're afraid to walk that road now, and to have that written into your file alongside the physical injuries.
You are allowed to change your route, or wait for daylight, while you recover.
You are allowed to ask a family member to keep notes for you if writing is hard right now.
What should you record after being hit while walking?
| What to record | Why it helps |
|---|---|
| Where you were, which way you were walking and the light, weather and road surface | Sets out how it happened while your memory is clear |
| The vehicle, the driver's details and any witnesses | Hard to find again later, easy to note on day one |
| Your RCMP file number and the dates you notified each insurer | The insurers and later forms will ask for them |
| Every symptom and the date it first appeared | Connects each injury to the collision |
| The first day you couldn't work, and what your nurse or doctor said about it | The weekly benefit depends on it starting within 30 days |
| Every appointment, the treatment advice you were given and the reason for any gap | Shows you followed the plan and kept treatment running |
| Every medical travel trip, with the flights, nights away and who travelled with you | The costs are large and easy to under-claim |
| What you couldn't do that week that you could do before | Turns the injury into something another person can measure |
The National MVA Recovery Guide is built for anyone hurt in a collision, whether you were driving, riding or walking. It gives every symptom a date and every appointment a page.
Keep your recovery in one place
The National MVA Recovery Guide holds your whole recovery. The Territories MVA Companion Guide adds the insurer, the forms and the deadlines in Nunavut.
Why use Hurt Square?
Because a pedestrian's injuries are often more serious, and the details of the day are hard to rebuild later. Hurt Square guides give you one place to keep it all.
- The day it happened, and every day after. The National MVA Recovery Guide has space for the first hours after your accident, daily pain and symptom tracking, every appointment and every expense, for anyone hurt by a vehicle.
- The territory's rules, in plain words. The Territories MVA Companion Guide holds the deadlines, forms and insurer routes in Nunavut, with a log for every medical travel trip.
- Made for hard days. 192 pages and more than 1,600 fillable fields that work on your phone, tablet or computer, in plain language.
Both guides, $39 until 22 November. The National MVA Recovery Guide and the Territories MVA Companion Guide, with the discount applied at checkout. Bought separately: $63.99.
Get both guidesRead next
- Recovering After a Car Accident in the Territories: A Complete Guide
- Territories Car Accident Claim Deadlines
- “I Got the Call About My Teen!” | Your Teen Was in a Car Accident: What Families Should Write Down
- “I Felt Fine. Now I Hurt!” | Why Car Accident Injuries Sometimes Appear Days Later
Last verified 25 October 2026. Accident benefits and the one-benefit rule from the standard owner's policy for Nunavut, S.P.F. No. 1; hit-and-run steps from the Uninsured Automobile Coverage Regulations; workers' compensation rules from the Workers' Compensation Act; the two-year limit from the Limitation of Actions Act; RCMP numbers and the absence of 911 from the Nunavut RCMP; 2024 traffic deaths from the Government of Nunavut's 2024 Traffic Safety Act Annual Report; Halloween patrols from the City of Iqaluit; Elders' concerns as reported by APTN News, June 2026; child pedestrian figures from Transport Canada's National Collision Database, 2021 to 2023; sun times calculated for Iqaluit. This article is general information for people in Nunavut. It is not medical, legal or insurance advice.
