The Nunavut Coroner service is a fact finding service and not a fault finding service. Coroner is an independent investigator responsible for the investigation of all reported deaths in order to determine the identity of the deceased and the facts concerning when; where; how and by what means the deceased came to their death.

The Coroner has four main roles to fulfill;

• Investigative
• Judicial
• Preventive
• Administrative

The Act requires any persons to notify a coroner or the police of any death in certain circumstances so that a coroner may proceed with the necessary investigation and determine the causes of death and the circumstances surrounding it. The Act applies to all deaths that take place in Nunavut or deaths that transpire as a result of events in Nunavut.

The Coroner receives the investigation documents from various agencies involved in death investigation, examining the material and comes to a judicial decision concerning the death of an individual to prevent similar deaths.

Coroners do not have a vested intrest in the outcome of the death investigation and operates independently at arms length from the government to ensure the abscence of bias in its findings.