Santa's gifts come by sealift in Grise Fiord

Santa Claus delivers toys to the rest of the world by sleigh and a team of reindeer, but in Grise Fiord, Nunavut, he delivers them by sealift.

Grise Fiord, with a population of 130, is Canada's northernmost civilian community.

For more than 20 years, Santa has been delivering a toy to each boy and girl under 13 years old in the community each Christmas with a little help from the hamlet and the community's co-op.

Marty Kuluguqtuq, Grise Fiord's acting SAO, says the toys are paid for through hamlet funds and territorial programs. 

The elves start their work in April by sending a list to the Grise Fiord Inuit Co-op.

Frank Holland, the co-op's general manager, says he reaches out to his suppliers and breaks the list down by age group.

The suppliers do the shopping and the gift wrapping before sending about 60 presents up by sealift in the summer.

"The kids actually are our biggest helpers at sealift time, and they happen to see certain boxes," said Holland. "They know by now which boxes are which, and which have the special toys in, and they get all excited and everything and it's kind of cool to see."

But there's no peeking before Christmas Eve when the gifts are handed out at a community event at the gym.