Forty interviewers, lab technicians and nurses set sail from Paulatuk, Northwest Territories, Wednesday to begin the 2008 Inuit health survey in communities across Canada's North.

This year, the survey, which will help complete a comprehensive study of health issues in the North, will include Inuit outside Nunavut. The Canadian Coast Guard ship, the Amundsen, will travel to the Inuvialuit settlement region, Nunavut, and Nunatsiavut in Labrador, to interview 1,000 people about Inuit health.

Researchers will gather information on household crowding, food security, alcohol and drug use, mental health and community wellness.

In 2007, the survey team interviewed 1, 214 people from 18 communities in Nunavut.

The Amundsen is scheduled to arrive in the Nunatsiavut region of Labrador in October.

Michelle Wood, spokesperson for the Nunatsiavut government, told CBC News it is important for Inuit in Labrador to be included in the study.

"It's really a great exercise for us to get a baseline of health and wellness for our region in comparison to other regions," she said. "There's also going to be ... work with Greenland, with Russia, with Inuit all across the North, so it will give us a really good sense of where Inuit are right across circumpolar north."

The vessel was en route to Tuktoyaktuk, N.W.T., Wednesday to begin this year's survey.

The team expects to interview 300 Inuit people in Labrador when it arrives in the fall.

The Inuit health survey is funded by the federal government and coordinated by Montreal's McGill University.