Residents, retailers and an academic all have strategies on how to bring down the high price of groceries in Nunavut.
No matter what the proposed solution, it’s going to involve the federal government investing money, according to Nicholas Li, an associate professor in the Department of Economics at Toronto Metropolitan University.
In both Greenland and Mexico, government-owned grocery stores are used to subsidize prices.
“Greenland, outside of the capital, most communities are served by this chain of stores and it’s basically government-run stores with the same fixed price everywhere,” Li said. “Mexico has a whole network of government-licensed shops that all sell at the same price.”
Toronto and New York City have both approved pilot projects to test government-run grocery stores.
Li also pointed to Nunavik as a place Nunavut could learn from.
“The Nunavik Co-op works differently than the Co-op in Nunavut,” he said. “They really try and equalize the prices across all of their stores, so you go to different communities in Nunavik and you’re paying almost the same price in the Co-op.”
Nunavik has a subsidy program that could work in Nunavut, according to Matt Teed, a Northern store manager in Kangigsuallujuaq, Que. (Nunavik) from 2020 to 2021, Iglulik from 2016 to 2020, as well as a Co-op manager in Resolute Bay from 2012 to 2014.
“I still would love to see the GN do as they do in Nunavik where, on top of the Nutrition North subsidy, the GN could also subsidize certain food items an additional percentage,” Teed said.
The Kativik Regional Government Food and Other Essentials Program subsidizes essential items between 15 to 35 per cent for Nunavik residents to align costs with southern Quebec.
Airport factors
Investing in better airport infrastructure was the suggestion from Mike Beaulieu, vice-president of Canadian store operations for The North West Company.
Longer runways, better weather forecasting, and de-icing services in more communities for planes could reduce transportation costs, Beaulieu argued.
“If you think about an aircraft, if the weather is even marginal, you’re not going to take off from Iqaluit to go to a place like Clyde River if you’re fearful that you get on the ground and you may not be able to get your aircraft off the ground because of weather conditions,” he said.
Fewer deliveries and flight cancellations drive up food prices, Beaulieu explained, which might not happen if that community had de-icing services for planes.
Communities with gravel runways can only accept smaller aircraft because of a plane’s weight.
“We’re having to move cargo on smaller aircraft because larger aircraft with heavier weight can’t land on some of the runways,” said Beaulieu.
Help for harvesters
Li contended that support for hunters and trappers through harvester support programs helps fight food insecurity.
Last year, the federal government spent $40.3 million on a harvester support program through Nutrition North and Inuit associations, while the Government of Nunavut gave $438,000 to hunters and trappers associations as well as $115,000 to an active harvest program.
There are other methods of reducing grocery prices more in line with the federal government’s current subsidy program.
Tying the Nutrition North food subsidy program to the cost of freight delivery could help alleviate prices at the checkout counter, Li suggested.
Another option, he added, would be to have child and retirement benefits indexed to regions, offering higher amounts to people living in places where it’s more expensive.
Infrastructure projects to build highways in Nunavut, which are in the proposal stage, may reduce the cost of groceries in the long run, according to Li.
Samson Ittungna, from Taloyoak, said high grocery prices in Nunavut are due to high fuel prices created by inflation from wars started by U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladmir Putin
“No more wars,” Ittungna said on how to reduce the grocery costs. “Wars create higher price of fuel for the entire world.”
Federal and territorial governments should step in if the wars persist, Ittungna said.
An external review of the Nutrition North food subsidy program began in 2024 and is due for a formal report in 2026, while the program itself is overseen by Northern and Arctic Affairs.
Jackorasee Matu Iqaqrialu, from Clyde River, said he doesn’t believe anything will be done to bring down grocery prices.
“My guess is nothing even politicians are trying to help, nothing is happening,” Iqaqrialu said.
By William Koblensky Varela, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Original Published on Jun 08, 2026 at 09:42
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