The facility was designed by Bruno Freschi and opened in 1986[1] as the Baffin Correctional Centre with an initial capacity of 41 inmates.

[2] Additional renovations totalling $900,000 in the mid-2010s helped to remove pervasive mould, fix fire sprinklers, damaged walls, and decrepit bathrooms.

However, overcrowding remained a problem in Nunavut, and the government admitted to paying $4 million per year for inmates to be housed outside the territory.

[4] In June 2018, another riot broke out, causing "significant damage" to the "Charlie" unit of the prison, which houses between 20 and 30 inmates.

[6] Nunavut justice minister Jeannie Ehaloak announced in October 2020 that the final name Aaqqigiarvik Correctional Healing Facility had been chosen after consultation with Inuit elders and the territorial government's Tuttarviit Committee.