First Nations Bank opens new branch in western Nunavut

Kugluktuk is now home to a First Nations Community Banking Centre. (FILE PHOTO)

If you live in the western Nunavut town of Kugluktuk and want to open an account, cash a cheque, make a deposit or do other banking transactions, as of Aug. 18, you’re in luck.

That’s because the first Nations Bank of Canada opened a First Nations Bank of Canada Community Banking Centre Aug. 18 in the Kugluktuk co-op store.

The centre’s opening brings full-service banking to this Kitikmeot community.

“By continuing to expand our reach and bring much-needed services to the North, we are fulfilling our mandate of creating opportunities for Aboriginal people,” said Keith Martell, CEO of the First Nations Bank, in a news release on the Kugluktuk expansion.

“Kugluktuk is a growing, thriving community and access to financial services will help people build on their successes. This is what we do. We are Canada’s Aboriginal bank, independently owned and operated by Aboriginal people for Aboriginal people.”

The nearest bank to Kugluktuk, with population of about 1,500, has been the Royal Bank of Canada in the Kitikmeot hub of Cambridge Bay, which, at one point, had considered opening a branch in Kugluktuk as well.

The FNBC — with the support of its largest shareholder, Inuit-owned Atuqtuarvik Corp. — has now opened three community banking centres in Nunavut over the past 18 months under an arrangement with Arctic Co-operatives Ltd.

The expansion of the bank into Nunavut is part of a deal signed in 2007 with Inuit-owned investment company Atuqtuarvik, which purchased 20 per cent of the bank’s shares.

Atuqtuarvik made the deal primarily to bring banking services to Nunavut communities where none exist.

Baker Lake and Pond Inlet were already at the top of their list then, given the mining activity ramping up near both communities.

The Baker Lake Community Banking Centre opened in March 2014 and the Pond Inlet Community Banking Centre opened in October 2014.

“We are very pleased to partner with First Nations Bank of Canada to bring essential financial services to the people of the community of Kugluktuk,” said Kono Tattuinee, ACL’s president. “We anticipate improved financial literacy and economic benefits, through direct access to financial services, for the members of Kugluktuk Co-op.”  

With its focus on Aboriginal communities, FNBC now has the largest percentage of branches and community banking centres north of the 60th parallel, the bank’s news release noted.

“Many Inuit communities are under-serviced and we are working to change that,” said Greig Cooper, FNBC’s vice president of operations.

“Being in the communities, we have the chance to work shoulder to shoulder with customers, businesses, and community leaders. By understanding their needs, we can create a system that helps support opportunity and prosperity for Aboriginal people.”


The FNBC, founded in 1996 offers Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people, corporations and governments personal and business banking services, including loans, mortgages, investments, transaction accounts and cash management.

The bank’s Aboriginal shareholders also include groups from the Northwest Territories, Yukon, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Alberta and Quebec, which own over 80 per cent of the bank.