During winter, when the tides are extremely low, local Inuit sometimes climb beneath the shifting sea ice to gather blue mussels. They break holes in the ice and then can walk for a short time on the exposed sea bed and collect this food. This risky way of gathering the mussels goes back for generations.[6]
Kangiqsujuaq is the closest community to the Qajartalik archaeological site, a site featuring petroglyphs created by the Dorset culture.[8] In 2017, it was announced that the Qajartalik would be added to Canada's tentative list for nomination to the UNESCO World Heritage Site list.[9]
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Kangiqsujuaq had a population of 837 living in 297 of its 321 total private dwellings, a change of 11.6% from its 2016 population of 750. With a land area of 12.41 km2 (4.79 sq mi), it had a population density of 67.4/km2 (174.7/sq mi) in 2021.[10]