Update: Departments Question and Answers

Last updated Thursday, November 30, 2023

Departments Q&A

Department of Health Q&A

Will there be any service disruption?

• Currently, services are proceeding as usual. There will be delays as health workers revert to a paper-based system until network services are restored.
• Patients are asked to help expedite service delivery by bringing their health care cards and medications for all health care visits.

Medical Travel

• Additional staff was brought on to help process medical travel requests. Medical Travel will continue to facilitate individuals’ care in appropriate and timely fashion.
• If you experience any concerns please call the numbers that are listed online at www.gov.nu.ca/health

Patient Relations:

Anyone with patient concerns or comments can continue to contact Toll Free 1-855-438-3003.

Can people still come for x-ray and lab tests?

• Yes.

Will the process change for medical escort approvals?

• The process for medical escorts will remained unchanged.

Are the hospital and health centres open?

• Yes all medical services across the territory are still being provided.

Are Telehealth Services available?

• Telehealth services are currently unavailable.
• All previously scheduled telehealth appointments will be rescheduled.

If needed, appointments will be redirected to alternate services providers.

Will there be any disruptions to the delivery pharmacy/medications in the communities?

• No.

Is my personal information compromised?

• No. Typically, ransomware does not distribute information to other parties and cannot access the content itself. It can only block the user from further accessing the information.

How are you communicating with health partners and clients outside of Iqaluit?

• We have implemented contingency procedures to ensure consistent communication.
• We are in daily contact through meetings and close communications to manage any issues that may arise. We have implemented contingency procedures to ensure consistent communication.

Will scheduled surgeries be affected?

• No

How do submit my NIHB payment?

• NIHB processes will, like other services, be using a paper-based system. Although there will be no disruptions to the services, there might be delays.

Was the health department prepared to deal with this type of situation?

• Yes. We have multiple contingency plans and emergency preparedness procedures for the health care system that address events such as this. All our health care teams are engaged and working hard to mitigate the impacts.

Do you have enough staff to handle the increased workload?

• We are monitoring the situation closely and staff has been reallocated to critical areas.

Meditech:

• Restoring Meditech is one of GNs first priorities.

Department of Justice Q&A

How will the privacy of personal information be secured?

• The Information and Privacy Commissioner has been contacted.
• Justice Department will continue to include the Commissioner in the discussions in relation to this process.

Will the ransomware affect keeping of records?

• To ensure the government remains compliant with the Archives Act and procedures, all staff are directed to keep a record of all information sent and received during this period.
• Once the system is returned to full functionality, this information must be transferred to the government system for appropriate records management and retention.

Corrections Q&A

Are the security systems within our correction facilities affected by this network outage?

• The security systems are unaffected by the outage.
• Many of the security systems within our correctional facilities are not maintained on the government network.
• The safety and security of our staff and inmates is our number one priority.

How will this affect inmates release dates, court dates, or other important events?

• Corrections maintains records of all inmates outside of the GN network. They can use the information available to them to ensure all important dates are identified and inmates remain unaffected.

Will this affect the ability for clients to access legal services or limit their communications with their families?

• This outage will not affect legal access or communications for our inmates.

Will Community Corrections Officers be able to monitor clients?

• As of right now, we do not anticipate any interruptions in Probation Services.
• Corrections staff will evaluate any risks that may be presented and inform clients of any changes to their appointment times or locations.
• This will not cause any issues with the legal requirements for probation clients.
• Community Corrections staff will work closely with the RCMP to ensure this does not present any risks to the community.

Community Justice Q&A

Will Community Justice Offices be open in communities?

• Yes, our Community Justice Offices will be open and will continue to provide support to individuals in need of support.

How does this affect services provided by the Community Justice Outreach Workers?

• Our community justice team is identifying communities that may be affected by the network disruption.
• Because some of our Community Justice Outreach Workers (CJOWs) are employed through hamlets or other non-government organizations they are not on the GN network.
• We will partner affected CJOWs with those unaffected to ensure we can continue to provide support in all communities.
• Our offices will continue to be staffed to provide front line support and information to clients.

Victim Services Q&A

Will Victim Services be able to provide support to victims of crime and their families during this network outage?

• We do not anticipate any disruptions in our services, including travel bookings and support.
• Our departmental staff are working together to ensure services provided to Nunavummiut through victim services is not disrupted.

Public Trustee Q&A

Will clients of the Public Trustee see any disruptions in payments?

• No. The payment system for the Public Trustee is manual. Therefore, we do not foresee any disruptions in our client payments.

Courts Q&A

Will Courts continue with their regular schedule while the network is down?

• We do not anticipate any disruptions in our court services, which includes our JP and circuit courts.
• Our IT staff have worked with Courts to set up computers off the network to support court operations.

What is Department of Justice doing to maintain continuity of court services?

• Court Services has implemented contingency plans to ensure uninterrupted services to Nunavummiut.
• The court registry continues to be open from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm Monday through Friday. Any criminal or civil proceeding can be filed directly with the Court Registry either in person, by facsimile at: (867) 975-6550 or by email at:
• For any Civil Court matters: @email
• For criminal Court matters: @email
• Access to court records request can also be made in person, by fax or through the civil staff email address.
• The GN is working actively to resort access to its network. Further notifications will be posted on the Nunavut of Justice Website to provide information of the present situation.
• If you have any inquiries please contact the Court at:
• Civil registry: (867) 975-6102
• Criminal Registry: (867) 975-6101
• Sheriff office: (867) 975- 6103

How does this affect the Civil Registry?

• The Civil Registry system is unavailable.
• Court Staff are currently evaluating the process for accepting electronic submissions involving civil and criminal matters, as the system is currently down.
• The department will provide follow up communications once a solution has been found and we are again able to accept electronic submissions.

Legal Registries Q&A

How does this affect services normally provided through Legal registries?

• At this time, the office is unable to provide services involving corporate registries, land titles or securities email registrations.
• Clients can still visit or call the office for information and support during the network outage.
• Our legal registries staff are working to evaluate their current service provisions.

Department of Finance Q&A

Will the ransomware attack affect GN employees’ pay schedule?

• The department is working to initiate pay on the next pay period as scheduled. There are two weeks left until the next pay period.

Are vendors going to be able to receive payments as scheduled?

• There will be delays until the Finance Department’s systems are up. In the meantime, Finance is working with other departments to prioritize payments.

Will I be reimbursed for my medical or duty travel?

• Payments and reimbursements will be prioritized as soon as the system is up and running.

Are Finance Department offices going to be open?

• Yes, Finance Department staff are expected to report to work as usual. Some services may be available only in person, by phone or by fax.
• Please visit or call your local Finance Department office for more information.

Is the beer and wine store going to remain open?

• The point of sale of the beer and wine store is not impacted by this incident. Regular working hours and ways of payment remain as usual.

Department of Finance External Contact List

Iqaluit - Parniavik building
Phone: 867-975-5803
Fax: 867-975-5845

Iqaluit - Brown building
Phone: 867-975-5800
Fax: 867-975-6814

Rankin Inlet regional office
Phone: 867-645-8500
Fax: 867-645-8511

Igloolik regional office
Phone: 867-934-2009
Fax: 867-934-8677

Cambridge Bay regional office
Phone: 867-983-4043
Fax: 867-983-4041

Taxation and insurance
Phone: 1-800-316-3324
Fax: 867-975-5845

Special Occasion Permit, liquor license
Phone: 867-975-6807
Fax: 867-975-5845

Licensee orders, liquor permit

Iqaluit
Phone: 867-975-6869
Fax: 867-975-5836

Rankin Inlet
Phone: 1-855-844-5488
Fax: 867-645-3327

Housing Corporation Q&A

Will Nunavut Housing Corp.(NHC) offices be open?

• Yes, all NHC offices will be open in regular hours.

Are Local Housing Organizations (LHO) affected?

• No, LHOs are not affected and will be open for business as usual.

Will Housing Programs and Services still be available to the public?

• Yes, NHC does not anticipate any disruption in any programs and services delivery

Nunavut Arctic College Q&A

Has the ransomware affected NAC’s wifi system?

• It is recommended that all technology (laptops, cellphones, tablets) be disconnected from the GN main server or any wifi (including the galaxy network).

What if I'm working on technology not connected to the GN network?

• You should not be affected.

What if I am using a personal modem, like Qiniq Modem?

• We don't anticipate any problems for technology connected to a modem that is not on the GN system Please be mindful about transferring data from your work computer (connected to the GN system) to your personal computer.

Are classes cancelled?

• No, classes continue as scheduled.

Are offices closed?

• No. Offices remain open and employees are expected to attend work as scheduled.

What should we do about time-sheets?

• Please monitor hours for your employees, specifically for casuals.

When should we expect to hear updates?

• For the most up-to-date information, check the GN's social media page - specifically its Facebook page.

• Nunavut Arctic College (NAC) is working to create a phone and fax list. We hope to have temporary emails developed and may create a communication tree to share information throughout the organizations.

• The situation is fluid, therefore updates will be continuous.

Will this impact the services the College provides its students?

• It is the College's goal to ensure services for students are not impacted.

• Financial Assistance for Nunavut Students (FANS) and Adult Learning and Training supports (ALTs) payments were provided before the attack, and Kivalliq Hall has provided the first half of November's meal vouchers to its students.

• If there are any concerns, please inform Sr. Management and we will work to develop effective solutions.

Department of Executive and intergovernmental Affairs Q&A

Will EIA offices be open?

• Yes. All EIA offices (Including GLO Offices) will be open for business.

Will GLO public services be available?

• At this point we do not anticipate any disruptions to service delivery.

People often contact the GLO by email, how can we reach the GLO?

• GLO and other EIA offices and staff can be reached by phone, fax or in person. Fax machines have been tested and are operational.

Department of Culture and Heritage Q&A

Will Culture and Heritage offices be open?

• Yes. All CH offices will be open for business as usual

Will CH translation services be available?

• Yes. We have a system in place for emergencies. Please contact your FLOW coordinator

How can we reach CH Staff?

• CH staff can be reached by phone, fax or in person.

Department of Community and Government Services Q&A

Will CGS offices be open?

• Yes. We expect all CGS offices to be open for business as usual.

Will CGS public services and programs be available?

• We do not expect any disruptions to service delivery, with the exception of IT services.
• In the next day or two we will have a better understanding of the impact on services and programs.

How can we reach the GN?

• GN offices and staff can be reached by phone, fax or in person.

Have municipalities been notified?

• Yes. All municipalities have been notified via Nunavut Association of Municipalities.

Will critical services like responding to municipality and facility issues be provided?

• Yes. We will continue to provide services to municipalities.

How can we reach GN staff by phone?

• A list of contacts will be posted shortly.

Department of Education Q&A

Will schools be open?

• Yes, schools will be open.
• All students and staff should report to school as normal and any special instructions will be provided by principals.

Is it safe for my child to attend class?

• Yes. There is no physical threat to students.
• All school emergency systems, such as fire emergency systems, do not rely on the GN network and are operational.
• All the schools have emergency phone lines that are working.
• School security has not been affected by the network issue.

The key scan entry system is working normally.

Will the schools have internet access?

• Schools will not have Internet access.

Are schools still able to issue report cards?

Despite the current Government of Nunavut (GN) network unavailability, which prevents staff from using their regular GN computers, Nunavut schools will be able to print report cards.

This can be accomplished by using an off-the network computer, a local printer and an alternate Internet access solution. The department is currently compiling information about which schools have this alternative available, and will discuss other options with schools that do not have the possibility to access resources outside of the GN.

The Student Information System (Maplewood) is being hosted outside of the Government of Nunavut infrastructure and is not affected by ransomware. Teachers and Administration staff will be able to access Maplewood and print Report Cards through a secure web browser connection.

Due to the required implementation of alternatives, delays could be expected. However, a few schools have already sent out reports cards and have not been affected by the unavailability of the GN network

Department of Economic Development and Transportation Q&A

Will EDT offices be open?

• Yes, we expect all EDT offices to be open for business, however some services may be limited.

Will airport services be impacted?

• No operational impacts are expected.
• The Nunavut Airports Division has activated contingency plans to ensure safe and effective communications at all airports.
• Regional airport managers will work with Municipalities and other contractors to ensure that safe and effective operations.

Will EDT programs and services to the public be available?

• There will be disruptions for the delivery of driver's licences and identification cards.
• EDT is working with our GN partners to develop a process to issue emergency ID cards.
• This process will be shared with the public once it is available.
• Nunavummiut who have current applications for Economic Development Grants and Contributions will see delays in processing these applications.
• All offices will be open and can be contacted by phone or fax. A list of phone contacts will be developed by 12:00 Eastern Time Monday, November 4th.
• For urgent communications regarding safety concerns an interim email address has been created and will be monitored: @email

Department of Human Resources Q&A

Is the Department of HR Impacted?

• Not at this time, it is business as usual.

Department of Family Services Q&A

Will Family Services offices be open?

• Yes, all Family Services offices will be open for regular business hours.

Where do I call if I have questions about services of the Department of Family Services missing payments, or any other Family Services concerns?

• Family Services has a public Relations line at 1-855-522-5201.
• The Financial Assistance for Nunavut Students (FANS) contact number is

1-877-860-0680, which is listed on the government of Nunavut website for Family Services.

Will I still be paid my income assistance?

• Income Assistance Workers will be able to issue food vouchers. To receive a food voucher, clients will have to attend the Income Assistance office in their community.

How do I receive food vouchers?

• Income Assistance Food Vouchers have been implemented across Nunavut today.
• Where there is currently no Income Assistance Workers in a community, the local Community Social Service Worker will process food vouchers.
• For Sanikiluaq, Family Services has made arrangements with the local stores until food vouchers are flown into the community. We thank the community for their patience during this time.

Will I still be paid my student financial assistance?

• Yes, the November payments have been processed.
• There is a second November payment due out on the 15 and is expected to be on time.

Can I still book my travel to my home community?

• FANS students can still book their Christmas travel to their home communities.
• If you are flying with Canadian North or Calm Air, contact them directly to make your booking. Tell them you are a FANS student and that your travel will be paid for by the Government of Nunavut. Your itinerary will need to be faxed to 1 877 860 0167.
• If you are flying with Air Canada or Westjet, contact the FANS office directly at 1 877 860 0680 to give them the dates you want to travel. The FANS office will book your travel for you.
• If you have any questions, contact the FANS office (8:30am to 5:00pm CT) at 1 877 860 0680.

Will I still be paid my foster care payment to be able to continue caring for my foster children?

• Yes, the first November payments were made. The next one due would be for the November 15 and is expected to be on time.

Will I receive my Adult Learning and Training Support payments?

• Yes. Every effort will be made to keep to the scheduled payment dates.

If I need to report a child abuse or any child concerns, where do I call or who do I contact?

• All Social Services are operating as usual. Contact your local social worker or attend the Family Services office.
• Everyone has a duty to report any child abuse to Child and Family Services.

Department of Environment Q&A

Will Department of Environment offices be open?

• Yes, all DOE offices will be open for business as usual.

Will DOE programs and services to the public remain available?

• At this point we don’t anticipate any disruptions to service delivery.

Will critical services like responding to problem wildlife and things like oil spills be provided?

• Yes, problem wildlife and spill response will continue as usual.

People often contact GN by email. How can we reach GN staff?

• With email not available, GN offices and staff can be reached by phone, fax or in person.

Document(s):

update_nov_4_7_p.m._qas_gn_departments_post-ransomware_1.pdf