Nunavut has strengths and weaknesses that could determine whether or not it's ready for devolution, but the author of a federal government report on the subject wouldn't say either way.

The final report by Montreal lawyer Paul Mayer was submitted to Indian Affairs and Northern Development Minister Jim Prentice on Friday for review.

The report, which involved extensive research and interviews with Nunavut officials and political leaders, looked at what strong and weak factors the territory has in its ability to govern itself to determine if it can take over responsibility of land and resources from the federal government.

Among its strengths, Mayer said Monday, is the progress Nunavut has been making in building its economy. The territory has 64 active agreements with mineral exploration companies, which spent nearly $200 million exploring for minerals last year.

But Mayer would not say whether this strength is enough to make Nunavut ready for devolution.

"The things that I've noted to be substantive issues are set out in my report," Mayer said. "I think it would be appropriate that the minister have an opportunity to read those before I really comment on them in public."

Mayer said he was also impressed with the work Nunavut has done to implement the 1993 land claim agreement. But one concern he cited was the high number of unfilled federal government jobs in Nunavut: 22 per cent of those jobs are vacant and employees normally stay in their positions around 18 months.

"There are always vacancies, regardless of which government you may be dealing with everywhere," Premier Paul Okalik said. "Particularly in the health-care field, we are all competing and trying to get nurses and doctors."

Prentice said the federal government is doing what it can to address the issue.

"Making sure that we have well-educated Inuit people step into these governmental roles has been a priority both for the national government and for the Nunavut government," he said.

"That work continues, but we continue to push in every way that we possibly can to make sure that we have people who speak one of the official languages and Inuktitut in governmental positions."

Mayer said based on his research, he is aware that a quarter of Inuit graduate from high school. The lack of qualified people could potentially hurt the territory's ability to take over more federal responsibilities.