Where to Store an Advance Directive in Nunavut

The Storage Problem in Nunavut

A perfectly drafted, properly signed advance directive is worthless if nobody can find it when it matters. In Nunavut, where emergencies often begin with a medevac call and end in a southern hospital hundreds of kilometres from home, the storage question is not just about convenience — it is about whether your wishes will be known at all.

Nunavut has no centralized advance directive registry. There is no territorial database where you can upload your document for clinicians to access. Unlike some provinces that have begun piloting electronic registry systems, Nunavut's healthcare infrastructure relies on local health centre records and physical document distribution.

This means storage is entirely your responsibility — and it requires multiple copies in multiple locations.

The Recommended Distribution Plan

Location 1: Your community health centre. This is the most important filing point. Deliver a physical copy to the health centre and ask them to scan it into your electronic medical record. When a medevac is arranged, the transfer of care documentation should include your directive. Ask the health centre staff to confirm it has been received and filed — do not just hand it to a receptionist and assume it reaches your chart.

Location 2: Your refrigerator. This is not a joke — it is a widely recommended practice for emergency medical planning. Place a copy in a clear plastic sleeve and attach it to the front or side of your refrigerator with a magnet. Emergency responders arriving at your home in a remote hamlet know to check the fridge. It is a visible, standardized location that does not require searching through drawers or closets during a crisis.

Location 3: Your proposed guardian. Give a copy to both your primary and alternate proposed guardians. If they need to file a guardianship application with the Nunavut Court of Justice, the original or a clean copy of the directive is a required piece of evidence. Make sure they know where the original is stored and how to access it.

Location 4: Your wallet. Not the full directive — a wallet-sized card stating that a personal directive exists, naming your proposed guardian, providing their phone number, and noting where the original document is stored. Emergency responders, medevac crews, and hospital admissions staff can use this card to locate the full document quickly.

Location 5: Your medical travel bag. If you are scheduled for a schedevac or have a chronic condition that makes emergency medevacs likely, keep a copy in the bag you would grab on the way to the airstrip. Southern hospitals need the document at admission, and there may not be time to retrieve it from your health centre's records system during an emergency transfer.

Where Not to Store Your Directive

A locked safe or safety deposit box. Your directive needs to be accessible during emergencies, which often happen when you are incapacitated and unable to open a safe or authorize a bank visit. A safety deposit box is the correct storage location for your will; it is the wrong location for your advance directive.

A lawyer's office only. If you used a lawyer to draft your directive, they may retain the original in their files. That is fine as a backup — but a law office in Iqaluit is not accessible to a medevac crew in Arviat at 2 a.m.

A single digital copy. Internet connectivity in many Nunavut communities is unreliable. A directive stored only as a PDF on your phone, in cloud storage, or on a computer is inaccessible during a power outage, a dead battery, or a connection failure. Always maintain physical paper copies.

What to Include on Your Wallet Card

Keep it brief and scannable:

• Your full legal name
• "I have a personal directive on file"
• Proposed guardian's name and phone number
• Alternate guardian's name and phone number
• Where the original document is stored (e.g., "Community health centre, Baker Lake" or "Fridge at home")
• Date the directive was last updated

Laminate the card or use a protective sleeve. A wallet card that deteriorates into illegibility defeats its purpose.

Updating Your Distribution

When you revoke and replace your directive, you need to recall every distributed copy of the old version. This is a logistics task, not a legal technicality. An outdated directive with contradictory instructions floating around at your health centre, in your guardian's files, and on your fridge creates confusion that can delay or distort clinical decisions.

When you distribute the new version:

• Collect the old copy from each holder
• Physically destroy the old copies
• Confirm the health centre has updated your medical record
• Replace the fridge copy and wallet card

The Nunavut Advance Directive & Living Will Kit includes a printable distribution log, wallet card template, and emergency storage checklist designed for Nunavut's fly-in communities and medical travel system.

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