IRC beneficiary payment is highest in a decade

Each Inuvialuit Regional Corporation (IRC) beneficiary aged over 18 will receive a $651.50 distribution payment in 2019, the corporation announced.

The figure represents the highest such annual payment in 10 years.

In total, 4,647 Inuvialuit will collect the payment. The total amount distributed this year will be more than $3 million.

Payments for beneficiaries living within the Inuvialuit Settlement Region will arrive in their communities on May 1.

For those living in other areas or who have set up direct deposit payment, the sum will be sent on that day.

IRC subsidiaries, including the Inuvialuit Development Corporation, Inuvialuit Investment Corporation, Inuvialuit Land Corporation, and Inuvialuit Petroleum Corporation, contribute funds to the distribution. 

Why the higher sum this year? The IRC explained the distribution amount is calculated using a 10-year average to ensure “profits are spread out for sustainable, steady payments,” and does not necessarily reflect any major change in the past 12 months.

This year’s payment is 21 percent higher than last year’s payment, and 63 percent higher than the 2017 payment.

Distribution payments were a key feature of the Inuvialuit Final Agreement, which states beneficiaries “shall share equally in the benefits received by the various Inuvialuit corporations.”