Braving the Cold, and Exorbitant Prices, in Northern Canada

In Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut, Canada’s largest territory, food comes at a steep price.
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Braving the Cold, and Exorbitant Prices, in Northern Canada
Two Aboriginal girls carry a picture of a family from Northern Canada. The picture highlights the high price of basic food stuffs faced by many in Canada's far North. (Matthew Little/Epoch Times Staff)
8/6/2009
Updated:
10/1/2015
<a><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/dca.JPG" alt="Two Aboriginal girls carry a picture of a family from Northern Canada. The picture highlights the high price of basic food stuffs faced by many in Canada's far North. (Matthew Little/Epoch Times Staff)" title="Two Aboriginal girls carry a picture of a family from Northern Canada. The picture highlights the high price of basic food stuffs faced by many in Canada's far North. (Matthew Little/Epoch Times Staff)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-1826891"/></a>
Two Aboriginal girls carry a picture of a family from Northern Canada. The picture highlights the high price of basic food stuffs faced by many in Canada's far North. (Matthew Little/Epoch Times Staff)

In Canada, the Tim Hortons coffee and donut chain is virtually a national institution. But in Canada’s far north, where a carton of eggs can cost $7, the store is facing difficulties.

In Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut, Canada’s largest territory, food comes at a steep price. The majority comes from Canada’s southern provinces of Ontario, Quebec and Manitoba. Food must travel great distances to this remote arctic island.

Kieran O’Sullivan, the operations manager for Northmart, one of the main grocery stores in Iqaluit, told The Epoch Times that they have several flights a week bringing in fresh food to the island. “There is no large food manufacturing here in this small population and we are many miles away from large cities,” said O’Sullivan.

Residents can expect to pay up to $8.99 CND for about half a gallon of milk, $2 CND for a can of coke, and $4.99 CND for a five ounce bag of chips, according to the Qikiqtani New Teacher Orientation Information Web site.

It’s no wonder that, according to Nunatsiaq Online, many residents travelling back from Inland Canada can be regularly seen carrying a box of Tim Hortons on the plane for their friends.

“I’m not allowed to get off the plane unless I have four dozen Tim Hortons donuts,” said the Mayor of Iqaluit, Elisapee Sheutiapik, to GlobeAdvisor.com. “The ladies at Tim Hortons at the Ottawa airport know me well enough that they call me ’trouble' because they know that they are going to have to prep four dozen for me.”

Tim Hortons has over 2,800 stores in Canada and there is a buzz that Iqaluit could soon get one too. However, the high costs associated with shipping food to the island are not attractive to many popular franchises.

GlobeAdvisor.com reported that Iqaluit used to have a Subway restaurant but it shut down after having to charge $26 CND for a foot-long sub.

KFC is one of the few franchises in Iqaluit, but residents can be expected to pay $44 dollars for a bucket of chicken according to Canadian Relocations Systems.

Many bloggers write about their surprise in how much the food costs in Iqaluit when visiting.

One blogger, Amanda, wrote about spending one year in Iqaluit.’

“I went into the local grocery stores just to have a look at the prices of food and such and I came to the conclusion that I will never afford it. I bought a box of Nutri-Grain bars and a case of pepsi and I paid 35.00 for it,” wrote Amanda after her first day.