First part of Iqaluit cemetery expansion to be done this year

The first stage of construction to expand Apex Cemetery is expected to be completed this year, says the City of Iqaluit’s director of engineering and capital planning.

Kevin Kerr provided an update on the project at a city council meeting Aug. 13 after councillors voted in March 2023 to have staff mock up designs for the cemetery expansion.

Apex Cemetery was built in 2014 for $1.3 million. In its current state, Kerr said, it will reach capacity in approximately two years.

The expansion will bring 470 new burial plots which would be sufficient to extend the cemetery’s life by eight or nine years, Kerr said.

The expansion work is being divided into two phases.

The first phase will be done in two parts. The first part involves adding fill to the site to raise its elevation and improve drainage. That’s expected to be complete by the end of this year, Kerr said.

“It will improve ditching around the cemetery to avoid some of the issues with water and surface water that we’ve had in the past,” he said.

The cemetery has had drainage issues since being established. In 2015, then-mayor Mary Wilman apologized for the cemetery’s condition and in 2018 one frustrated resident called it a sinkhole after visiting the area.

In 2021, the city raised the ground level of the cemetery and constructed a drainage system to help ease flooding.

In the second part of the first phase of expansion, the city will recompact base and surface materials, install a second gateway and pre-dig approximately 50 to 60 of the new burial plots by the end of 2025.

City staff is recommending design and construction work for the second phase could begin in 2030 and eventually include another 238 burial plots.

An updated plan estimates to bring 470 new burial plots to the Apex cemetery, which would be sufficient to extend the cemetery’s capacity to eight or nine years, city council was told last week. (Screenshot courtesy of the City of Iqaluit)