Iqaluit RCMP say after an "exhaustive" effort, the search for a missing 18-year-old is now considered a recovery mission, rather than a rescue.

Earlier this week RCMP said there was only a "faint hope" that Ambar Roy was still alive. Roy had been visiting his parents in Iqaluit while attending university in Waterloo, Ont. He had arrived in the Nunavut capital on March 11.

His parents told CBC that they got in a fight, and Roy wanted to go back to Waterloo the following day. His parents booked him a flight, but he never got on it.

In a press release Wednesday, RCMP said they are calling off the ground search.

"Given the time frame since Ambar has been last seen, it is believed Ambar has succumbed to the elements," the statement said. "Any further search would be considered a recovery verses rescue mission."

While it was originally reported that Roy was last seen on March 14, RCMP later said that was incorrect and that a taxi driver who dropped him off near the Road to Nowhere on March 13 was the last to see him.

RCMP spotted what they believe to be Roy's footprints on Friday about 10 kilometres from town. RCMP say, after two days of blizzards, the area is covered in upwards of six feet of snow.

"If there was any exposure of Ambar, he would have been located," the statement said. "No further ground search in the area will take place, until such time as the snow in the area recedes with spring melt."

The RCMP say this case is an isolated one. They say the investigation has not given them anything to suggest that what happened to Roy was suspicious or criminal in nature.

The RCMP have brought in a local drone company to fly a grid and produce video footage, which investigators will sift through for any potential sign of Roy.

"The RCMP continue to support Mr. and Mrs. Roy through this difficult time, and will continue to work to bring closure to the family as early as possible," the statement said.