A daycare may soon open in Igloolik, Nunavut, after three years of fundraising.

Elijah Evaluardjuk said the group has got a building and has started renovations, but they're waiting for an electrician to arrive in town.

"I know that there's a lot of people who want to work but can't work because there is no daycare," he said.

Igloolik is one of the largest communities in Nunavut without a daycare. Over half the hamlet’s population relies on income support while, as of last summer, the Nunavut government had 29 vacant jobs in Igloolik.

Leah Angutimarik's daughter just turned five, old enough to start school in the fall, but she still relies on grandparents, sisters and friends to look after her daughter while she works full-time for the government of Nunavut.

"It was a challenge for me to balance work and to find a sitter for the past five years," she said.

Angutimarik said she hasn't been able to keep one sitter for a long period of time, and in the past few months, she's missed a lot of work. But she said she's been lucky.

"Recently, one of my friends was resigning her job because there was no sitter available for her," she said.

The daycare is expected to have room for 15 to 20 children.