In this article, we respond to this identified deficit, critically examining the opportunities, tensions, and challenges that arise within CBA work with Inuit communities in Canada. The article aims to go beyond simply documenting successes and challenges to critically reflect and deliberate on aspects of CBA research from our collective experiences as Western‐trained nonindigenous academics who work within the Canadian Arctic and sub‐Arctic, as well as with indigenous partners globally. Such critical reflection is essential if we are to learn from our experiences, and provides a foundation for future projects that seek to work at the interface of Western and indigenous knowledge in an adaptation context in general and in the Arctic in particular. As such, the work is part of what Preston et al.34 call a reflexive approach to adaptation research; a nascent field of study in the adaptation field that targets ‘the research paradigm itself and the role of the researcher within it.’ We begin by providing context on Canada's Inuit populations and the climate adaptation challenges faced, then describe the multiday workshop methodology that provides the research and reflexive basis for the paper, and end with a critical examination of Inuit‐focused CBA research.