Nunavut crunches numbers on biggest ever food price survey

The latest Nunavut government food price survey for communities around the territory will be released this summer, Premier Peter Taptuna said in the legislature May 29. (FILE PHOTO)

The Government of Nunavut has gone grocery shopping for the largest-ever Nunavut Food Price Survey.

Premier Peter Taptuna announced Nunavut’s third annual food price survey — which compares food prices from around the territory and Canada — was completed earlier this year.

“The data collected is currently being prepared for analysis and distribution and the results are expected to be released by mid-summer,” Taptuna said May 29 in the Nunavut Legislative Assembly.

This year, in 2015, government liaison officers surveyed 135 items from retail stores in all Nunavut communities, which makes it the largest ever.

Last year, in 2014, staff surveyed 133 items from all 25 communities.

While we await the results from 2015, here’s what the Government of Nunavut discovered last year: all communities except Igloolik had a decrease in food prices by an average of four per cent, the Nunavut Bureau of Statistics reported.

Based on a 24-item grocery list — a food basket, of sorts, which includes items easily compared across the country such as ground beef, carrots, milk and canned fish — the highest grocery bill in Nunavut went to Pond Inlet at a cost of $199.05. The least expensive grocery bill was in Arviat at $155.46.

The survey, which provides valuable food price information, would continue for years to come, Taptuna announced last week.

“The Nunavut Bureau of Statistics plans to continue the Nunavut Food Price Survey on a regular basis, as it provides an awareness of the considerable price differences across Nunavut communities,” Taptuna said.

That difference in food prices is clear in Nunavut.

In 2014, the Nunavut Bureau of Statistics reported that the Canadian average price for a 2.5 kilogram bag of flour was $5.11. Nunavut’s average: $13.32.

And prices for some foods varied wildly throughout the territory last year.

Residents in Kugaaruk paid $18.49 for that same 2.5-kilogram bag of flour whereas residents in Resolute Bay paid only $8.99.

More details on the 2014 survey can be found here.

The survey’s goal: “to see all Nunavummiut have access to nutritious, affordable food and to ultimately reduce hunger in our territory,” Taptuna said.

Ottawa has come under fire in recent years over its Nutrition North Canada program, designed to lower food costs in remote areas.

Auditor General of Canada Michael Ferguson said last November that NNC’s air freight subsidy program does not ensure that northern retailers pass full subsidies onto consumers.

The federal government responded in January to a list of recommendations from the auditor general.

“In the coming months, our government will also be engaging with Northerners, retailers and suppliers on ideas to keep improving the program,” Aboriginal Affairs minister Bernard Valcourt said at the time.

In March, the Nutrition North Canada Advisory Board held a public meeting in Iqaluit and told those gathered they want to see the food freight subsidy savings itemized on grocery bills at the point of sale.

The NNC Advisory Board is an independent body set up to relay advice and report citizens’ concerns about the program to the minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, whose department runs NNC.