How Arctic Fresh grew from groceries to multimillion-dollar construction contracts in 5 years

Inuit-owned Arctic Fresh Projects is in the business of problem solving.

Scott Nakoolak, centre, spreads concrete at the Aqqusariaq Addiction and Trauma Center in Iqaluit, one of Arctic Fresh Projects’ ongoing builds. (Photo courtesy of Mel Schellenberg)

The five-year-old construction arm of the Igloolik-based Arctic Fresh Group of Companies currently manages $275 million in construction projects. The company’s biggest job to date is Aqqusariaq, the Nunavut recovery centre in Iqaluit, which boasted a 69 per cent Inuit workforce last month and 49 per cent in June, far surpassing the territorial standard of 20 per cent.

Month to month, the project averages a 25 per cent Inuit workforce while the company maintains 90 per cent Inuit among its permanent staff.

“We’re looking to bump up this percentage dramatically,” said Merlyn Recinos, chief operating officer of Arctic Fresh Group.

Now, Arctic Fresh is playing a role in helping to make Nunavut 3000 a reality. The $2.6-billion Nunavut government initiative aims to see 3,000 new housing units built across the territory by 2030.

The company announced June 13 that it will develop 56 new housing units in Igloolik, Coral Harbour and Sanirajak. The budget has yet to be assigned.

“When I think about everything that we have done and we started in 2020, it’s amazing,” Recinos said.

Originally from Guatemala, he and his wife, Arctic Fresh CEO Rhoda Recinos, stumbled into the construction business as a means of solving a problem they encountered following the launch of their Arctic Fresh food distribution business in 2015.

The couple started that business in response to high grocery prices in Igloolik. It began with the sale of four cases of Ottawa groceries to neighbours from their coffee table, soon shifting to doorstep delivery with online orders.

Their business model was flawed, however.

Customers needed access to a credit card to order and there was a three-to-five-day wait for delivery.

“It was great for us to have the online store, but we were still missing the point of food security in the community,” he said.

The couple sought to renovate an empty building to establish a walk-up storefront in Igloolik, but were gobsmacked by the contractors’ cost estimates, which surpassed $2 million.

Return airline flights and accommodation for southern workers took up a large chunk of the expense, they discovered.

“We’ve got to build a workforce that is able to maintain our buildings,” Recinos decided.

That’s when the Recinoses teamed up with Evan Schellenberg and his spouse Mel, who had experience building with non-profit organizations in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

“The approach that we’ve taken is, let’s train and also meet people where they are,” said Iqaluit-based Evan Schellenberg, the company’s general manager.

Using local Inuit skilled labour with some specialized southern assistance where needed, they completed the store renovation on a $640,000 budget, just over one-quarter of the original contractors’ estimates.

The store later included a sandwich shop to help funnel fresh vegetables into the community’s diet, once they secured Nutrition North funding.

Terry Satuqsi of ZQ Heating, right, accepts the award for leadership in construction, presented by Arctic Fresh general manager Evan Schellenberg, at the 2025 Nunavut Housing Forum in June. Hiring Inuit managers is a priority for the company, says Schellenberg. (Photo courtesy of Mel Schellenberg)

The company also developed a solution to replace hotel and work camp accommodations for teams on the job sites in the communities where they’re working.

Workers identify abandoned or derelict buildings, renovate them, then use them as worker housing. At the end of the projects, the houses are freshened up and added to the hamlet’s housing stock.

The company’s approach to worker compensation is also novel.

Arctic Fresh pays them based on their experience and skills — not necessarily tied to their accreditation levels, which are always increasing through on-the-job experience and training.

“We will be working with participants to become a registered apprentice and continue working with participants to build their hours and work toward certification levels,” said Evan Schellenberg.

Building local capacity is the goal, he said.

“Many of our tradespeople have young families and they don’t want to leave their community to go to school in another community.”

These principles are echoed by Arctic Fresh employees like Adam Qanatsiaq, an Igloolik-based crew supervisor who has worked with the company for more than three years. He said he’s had the opportunity to develop work skills.

“I’ve seen how they are trying to help Nunavummiut,” Qanatsiaq said, adding he encourages the next generation to pursue careers in construction the way he did.

“You may fall, but get up and keep trying. Everybody has to learn at one point. The harder the fight is, you will realize that’s when you learn the most.”

In September, the company plans to fly instructors from Nunavut Arctic College into Igloolik for six weeks to train 30 workers in math, science and language.