Kuujjuaq Greenhouse gets $1M in federal funding

The Kuujjuaq Greenhouse has $1 million in federal funding to expand local food production and processing in the community.

Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty and Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Rebecca Alty toured the greenhouse Friday morning as part of a funding announcement from Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions. It’s a federal program that gives financial support to small and medium-size businesses and non-profit organizations.

The money will go toward the construction of a new service building connected to the existing greenhouses that were built in 1999 and 2012, said Roxane Archambault, a member of the four-person volunteer committee managing the Kuujjuaq Greenhouse. The project is operated by the municipality.

The new building will include an insulated space to help extend the gardening season, washrooms and improved facilities to provide more comfortable working conditions, Archambault said. The committee also hopes to integrate a seedling container into the new building.

It will also support the greenhouse’s food-processing activities, preservation equipment and workshops on growing fresh food.

The Kuujjuaq Greenhouse’s gardening season has wrapped up for the year, with community members expected to return to their plots when the season reopens in late May or early June. (Photo by Dominique Gené)

“We’re really glad to get this funding. We were not sure what we would do without it,” Archambault said in an interview in French.

The project is expected to be completed by fall 2027, she said.

The Kuujjuaq Greenhouse currently has 46 gardening plots available to community members, Archambault said. Inuit beneficiaries and residents who have lived in Kuujjuaq for at least 10 years automatically qualify for a plot.

After Inuit and longtime residents get their plots, anyone else can apply for a plot, after living at least one year in the community.

The remaining plots are awarded by lottery if necessary. Organizations also automatically qualify.

Alongside individual plots, there are community plots with fresh produce, such as lettuce, spinach and herbs available to residents.

This gardening season has officially ended and is expected to resume in late May or early June next year.

Gull-Masty congratulated the greenhouse committee on the project and said she hoped to return for another visit in the summer.