Iqaluit cannabis store on the move
Higher Experience store to close temporarily on July 27, reopen across the street this fall
The Higher Experience cannabis store in Iqaluit will closer later this month but reopen across the street in the fall, says store co-owner Kevin Martin. (File photo)
The Higher Experience cannabis store in Iqaluit is scheduled to close temporarily to prepare to move into a new location just across the street.
On July 27, it will close its doors at 70 Fred Coman St., where it has operated since April 2024.
Before it can reopen at 609 Mattaaq Cres. in the fall, the new location needs to receive “the necessary final approvals” from the Government of Nunavut, the store’s co-owner Kevin Martin said in an email Sunday.
Before a cannabis store can open, the Government of Nunavut must inspect its location to ensure it meets requirements for security, storage compliance and proper signage, Martin said in a follow-up email.
Construction projects also require inspections before an occupancy permit can be issued, he added.
Based on the current construction schedule, Martin said, he hopes to reopen before Oct. 1.
But the opening ultimately depends on construction progress and regulatory inspections, he said.
Higher Experience has done business at 70 Fred Coman St., not far from the Four Corners intersection, for two years. But after the landlord ended the store’s lease, Martin needed to find a new location.
Even though the store was already in operation and the new location is just across the street, Martin still had to jump through several regulatory hurdles, due to it’s vicinity to a school and a daycare.
Under the Nunavut Cannabis Act, the move requires approval from the City of Iqaluit and Finance Minister John Main, who is also the premier.
With council’s approval, the GN’s approval and a public hearing gauging community support, the construction requirements are the final barriers for the move, which has been in the works for more than a year.
Glad the consultations ended up favorably.
October?!
I really feel for Kevin. It’s hard not to think that this whole process is being drawn out as an effort to sabotage his business.
This store was right across an elementary school where the kids saw everything and the property was literally used as a school bus stop for kids where they waiting for the bus in front of the weed store door…. Now it’s moving a few doors down…. Nowhere in Canada would this be allowed. Good job Iqaluit !