Arctic Fresh Projects awarded $35.6M contract for Iqaluit multiplex

Arctic Fresh Projects Inc. has been awarded $35.6 million to build a 23-unit multiplex for federal workers in Iqaluit.

Federal Procurement Minister Joël Lightbound announced the contract Tuesday morning at an Iqaluit news conference.

“We’re moving from three single-family homes that were in a pretty sorry state to now 23 two-to-three-bedroom units,” Lightbound said about the project.

The multiplex will be located on Nikku Lane, east of Nakasuk School.

Construction on the four-storey building is scheduled to be completed in 2028 and is expected to create or sustain 55 to 60 jobs, Lightbound said.

It was contracted through the terms of an Inuit Benefits Plan that commits the federal government to give consideration to Inuit-owned businesses and businesses located in Inuit regions as part of the procurement process.

Arctic Fresh Projects, founded by Rhoda Angutimarik-Recinos of Igloolik, is a registered Inuit company.

“Our human resources department is entirely Inuk,” Evan Schellenberg, Arctic Fresh’s Iqaluit-based general manager, said. “We have training being developed by Inuit for Inuit. We have recruitment being done by Inuit.”

Arctic Fresh was founded in 2017 to bring food to Igloolik at lower costs and has since expanded to include logistics and construction.

“We could bring down the cost of groceries, but people still were having trouble affording them,” Schellenberg said. “A good way to make sure that people can afford the groceries is to give long-term, sustained employment.”

Between 200 and 250 federal government workers are based in Iqaluit.

The cost of the new building equates to about $1.5 million per unit, which is higher than other apartment complexes built in Iqaluit recently. Those have come in closer to $1 million per unit.

Schellenberg says this is due to the project aiming for LEED Gold certification, which is the third of four levels awarded by the Canada Green Building Council for energy efficiency, water conservation, sustainable materials, and indoor air quality.

Kevin Turner is a regional director with Public Services and Procurement Canada, which oversees the northern pool housing program that provides staff housing to federal employees.

“We know that there’s more demand [for housing] than supply right now,” Turner said. “So, this will alleviate some of that pressure, but it won’t alleviate all the pressure.”

The project is also one of the first to be contracted under the federal government’s Buy Canadian policy. The project, awarded to a Canadian company, will use predominantly Canadian steel, aluminum, and lumber, a Public Services and Procurement Canada news release said.

The policy was designed to boost Canadian business, partly in response to international pressures, including the ongoing trade war with the United States.

U.S. President Donald Trump started threatening and imposing tariffs shortly after he was elected in November 2024, and this week announced more tariffs on a range of Canadian goods from hockey equipment to down jackets.

“We’ve been very focused on what we can do to shore up the Canadian economy,” Lightbound said.

“Buy Canadian is very much a part of that…. Free trade with the Americans has been mutually beneficial, and I think a lot of Americans understand that as well. From our perspective, we’re very much focused on what we can do to build resiliency in the Canadian economy.”

Demolition of the three original houses on Nikku Lane was done in fall 2024.