THE PRICE OF FOOD IN IQALUIT, NUNAVUT

In this video we show some of the most expensive items in Northmart, one of the grocery stores in Iqaluit, Nunavut. Video filmed on April 9, 2019. #iqaluit #nunavut
Thanks for watching! We are a young couple living in the Canadian Arctic, and our son Jude was born January 27th, 2019!
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INTRO/OUTRO MUSIC:
Rock Angel by Joakim Karud / joakimkarud
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[@alejandrosolis7695]

I'm Mexican and I work on the renovation of the North Mart when it burned down I had to clean the Tim Hortons and polish the floor with new wax. I thank God for allowing me to get to know that place full of magic, at first I was very scared to be so far from home, I am Mexican and I did not know ice. but the people of Iquialit are very good. I will always carry you in my heart with love from Mexico.

[@phoenix1861]

This definitely makes me not want to complain about grocery prices anymore!

[@AhmedHassan-pn4fq]

phoenix1861 They make wages, that can overcome that very well!

[@carstenfrom7532]

I m on my way up in 2 weeks! I m very excited!

[@giargo]

@@AhmedHassan-pn4fq allahui akbar

[@LouGojira2]

Oh my gosh! If I was stuck paying those kinds of prices for food, I'd ration out every single bite...I'd NEVER overeat again! Fascinating videos ma'am. Thank you for all you do. God bless.

[@framedelvisguy1727]

my g/f moved from Winipeg to Nunavut to work in property management. hoping she can open up a pilates studio there! She says the prices for food is off the chain!

[@hailtheminty6003]

Omg the selection brand sparkling water got me like holy crap! $40 for sparkling water?!

[@OliviaIrwin4]

Hail The Minty I’m back home in Ontario right now and got so excited seeing a case of water for less than $2! So crazy 😛

[@hailtheminty6003]

Olivia Irwin I’m also from Ontario, holla!

[@Microtic]

It's heavy and can't be stored in minus temperatures so that increases the price. Plus it's likely a luxury item as fresh filtered water is likely everywhere. I doubt it has the subsidy.

[@mehchocolate1257]

@@OliviaIrwin4 what is the cost of living in igaluit?

[@cassidypresley3271]

@@Microtic ..........water is water.......filtered or non filtered. Might as well......drink rain water.....cheap! cheap!

[@jackflash5659]

Due to the distance I can understand why the cost of goods are higher up in Nunavut and northern Canada. The problem I have is these prices are ridiculously high. It seems like price gouging.

[@abdalhadifitouri131]

Its the same in northern Alaska. Cereal is around $15/box for corn flakes. Everything is crazy expensive

[@jackflash5659]

@@abdalhadifitouri131 , how much is milk?

[@brandonmcgillis]

6.49 for a Michelinas dinner, if everything is so expensive why do people choose to live there?

[@sybsygstgstsgysg5330]

@@brandonmcgillis the views

[@uriengill]

Maybe because everything is flown in rather than shipped by truck or ship

[@Eddieheli]

Very nice video. I'm flying there on this Year's Canada Day and staying at Frobisher Inn where Northmart right next to it. Definitely will do one shopping there (Y)

[@shelleyharvey9447]

I showed this to my grade two class as we are learning about communities in Iqaluit. Fabulous work and they LOVE the music. Thank you :)

[@stephentuday651]

Interesting and thanks for sharing! I saw a similar video posted showing grocery prices in Point Barrow Alaska. It seems to be about the same. Freight costs a fortune to get to the Arctic.

[@TechnoReviews507]

So expensive the michelinas, they are only 1 dollar in Toronto

[@ladyaries]

Same in the US.

[@sunnesunne4039]

This is similar to prices in Remote Australia as well.....there have been calls to increase the government subsidy....Darwin and Alice Springs which are our most remote urban zones but are much bigger places have prices at about 75% this.....with population centres comparable to Iqualit almost the same

[@KLiNorge]

I'd definitely recommend broccoli sprouts for areas such as this, since it's kind of grow your own salad type of food which is extremely healthy, tasty and will save a bundle.

[@cassidypresley3271]

Good point......! on recommending broccoli sprouts.......the only down size to this, is that you would be paying an arm and leg for stuff such as this. That's why everything like fresh while fruit and veggies are per pack no name brands or frozen in bulk bags. Like $12.00 for a while cantaloupe or other while fruit and vegetables.

[@Roger_Rabbit_Adventures]

Think I'd trying growing some things Hydroponic. Also make the dog work some for a $125 bucks a bag 😮

[@JoeFu127]

Currently live in Ontario, planning to take a trip to Iqualuit. Good to see your video before take off.

[@beyquma5468]

have fun! welcome to the north, but theres no snow right now

[@FernieMariam]

Wow! Your prices are higher than here in Banff. Crazy high!! Great to meet you!

[@OliviaIrwin4]

Mariam Bocari hi! I am so jealous you’re in Banff! I’ve never been and it’s on my list! :)

[@thak44]

Can you do a meal plan, like show what it would cost a regular family to eat for breakfast lunch dinner for a day or a week

[@loreenabradley]

My best friend is management for that company in another community. She told me about the food prices when she first moved and I was blown away, but luckily yall get a subsidy for living up there.

[@christadunsford7017]

Great video!!!! Maybe a video about Toonik time would be cool :) Or what the new pool is like. Video of the sealift and barges when they come in. Love your videos. Thanks for sharing!

[@OliviaIrwin4]

Christa Dunsford thank you for your ideas and I’m so glad you enjoyed the video! :)

[@anonymousanonymous6735]

Love the music!! Prices agreed high. Jamming out to this song~

[@doroteaabednego6206]

Jamming to the song after an year.

[@anonymousanonymous6735]

@@doroteaabednego6206 yass 👌

[@TheMOORENerdyMama]

OH MY! I will never complain about prices of groceries ever again! That is crazy!!!

[@cassidypresley3271]

Could always be worse........some where else! You could be a cigarette smoker or a toker.....up there in the north or even a boozer! Imagine what the liquor cost in these isolated places ???

[@penquinbumbum6049]

Well stocked store. Anything fresh must be flown up, probably from Montreal. The cost of air freight is easily 2 to 3 times that of the product itself. Exceptions should be canned goods etc that are brought up on the summer sea lift. Question: Is Amazon still offering free delivery to Iqaluit to Prime members? I heard they cut it off to outlying towns like Arctic Bay as they were losing lots of money on every item.

[@DominicBlair]

Hi Olivia, I’m planning a trip to Nunavut and à was wondering if there’s any talk up there about the ferry service that’s supposed to start in 2020.

[@OliviaIrwin4]

Dominic Blair Hi Dominic! I haven’t heard anything about it, but that doesn’t mean it’s not happening!

[@AraOG-o7w]

It’s triple of what it costs in Montreal

[@vili7264]

Ara Oghlian z

[@tineyfn]

Lol

[@ChalkiePerfect]

It’s now the not too distant future, and these prices don’t seem that terrible anymore.

[@TheDoctorfox007]

OMFG!!!!😮😮😮 I will NEVER EVER complain about NYC grocery prices ever again after seeing the astronomical prices for groceries in Iqaluit.

[@valentinventures]

Some of the prices aren’t as insane as I imagined but it’s interesting that the price goes up by weight in many cases. I guess that’s the side effect of having to ship / fly everything in

[@cannabisgal9301]

Interesting .. Thanks for Sharing

[@jasongates-]

Those prices hurt just looking at them, and I'm not even in Canada. I know you don't know the answer to this, Olivia, but I was curious to myself whether the stores in your area, if they buy in bigger bulk than they do, when they do order things to sale, (like ordering two or three times the amount they already order, in one sitting), if that would help with the prices. That's not for you to try to answer, Olivia. That's just something I thought of on my own out of curiosity. Cause, I was thinking that maybe, if they stored the extra items in like a warehouse building that they own, instead of having to ship them annually, maybe that would lower shipping costs for them from having to ship less often, and then they could pass the savings on to their customers. But, I'm not an economist or a business owner or anything like that, so that's just me speculating. You have great taste in music, Olivia.

[@hotcrazycatladyme168]

A lot of people feel like the grocery store there is not even trying to save money, so I don't think it's because they can't do better, it's just that they don't (greed). It might be cool if some of the locals put their money together to start their own grocery store though. From what I heard most of them just order from Amazon. Think about it, if Amazon can send you a small package for a decent price despite how far it is to ship, then how come the grocery store can't do it with the bulk shipping containers they order each week/month? They can, they just don't because people are stuck without an alternative... at least until now anyways, so maybe it will get better. The government even gave them millions of dollars so they would lower the prices for people (notice how there were two prices on the tags: that is for before and after government subsidy) but it's still expensive.

[@deans6129]

Thank you Olivia I knew stuff was expensive even some items caught me off guard. An unfortunate side effect of living on an Island a really big Island but still

[@OliviaIrwin4]

Dean S we have lived here for close to a year and I still am shocked at the prices when we go! We buy as much as we can off of amazon to save money.

[@mehchocolate1257]

@@OliviaIrwin4 how many white people live in iqauit,Nunavut anyway

[@nikolabolic7120]

Prices are ok for Iqaluit. Imagine the logistics to bring all the stuff up there... Everything is coming by plane and assume its coming in weekly... or even less than that, so yeah prices are ok. I assume also you make a lot more money on your job than lets say in Ontario or Quebec... Great video! Thank you! :D

[@davgar4241]

Exactly

[@johndoeseph6075]

What are the cheaper things you can eat in Iqaluit? I have a potential job offer there in the skilled trades and i'm kinda worried that food and heating costs will be completely unaffordable.

[@_darkbrian]

it's midnight in Dubai! Paused the video, let me grab the cereal. Those rucola/lettuce boxes cost the same in here, mostly imported from France.

[@DawnieRotten]

Wow!! The 'Pre-subsidy' prices are even more insane!!

[@waheed7288]

My first and for most important question is how do these residents afford these proces I mean where do they get money from (income)

[@choieunhwi4069]

The prices seem reasonable overall, considering that there is no road network outwards and sealift season is very limited.

[@OliviaIrwin4]

Yes! They make sense when you think of shipping costs and logistics, still hard to pay that much for some things though 😩

[@willautut1900]

Alright, try living here for a month and see how you fare!

[@WhomThouDoesNotKnow]

Wow. This makes even Iceland look inexpensive. Makes sense though and thanks for sharing!

[@SCAustin]

Those are what I remember and that is the subsidized price. Crazy.

[@SunRabbit]

I think anybody who manages to set up a heated/lighted greenhouse operation up there is bound to become an instant multi-millionaire, the only glitch being that you have to already BE a multi-millionaire just to buy the land and all the materials to build it, AND transport all that material up there. The other issue would be how to power the heating and the lights during the winter, where I didn't see a whole lot of solar panels or windmills in any of the footage I've seen so far, which means that the power is probably imported too, most likely in the form of coal. But wow, those prices are too high. I guess the incomes are high too.

[@nkechiogwuru6017]

Thank you video,I recently got a job in Nunavut and I'm about applying for my PR while my employer for my LMIA

[@scentofwaterpoetry9823]

Hi Nkechi. So glad to see you here. How’s the experience for you at Nunavut?

[@Charlizzie]

0:34 Your son says "Mom, why can't we order food thru Amazon?" hehe

[@billallen5557]

and successfully setting it all up. Olivia, has reconstruction begun yet on the Northmart warehouse that was lost last November?

[@Sarah.Riedel]

Really interesting that frozen pizza is more expensive than frozen fish

[@heselofhephidiyiai5985]

Hey, in provinces near the ocean we take fishing seriously.

[@Sarah.Riedel]

@TheRenaissanceman65 ...I totally didn't even think about that lol I guess I assumed if someone wanted fish for dinner they'd just go and catch it themselves rather than buying it from the store haha.

[@sierrawhite5053]

fish is so abundant in Canada just like chicken or cow is in the USA. Same thing with berries or caribou/ moose meat

[@anthonyguarino4242]

No money symbols on the prices?! 0:35 the baby nodded his head with his hilarious face expression!

[@gym_bob]

I assume the prices are in Canadian so would be less if in American dollars. Doing quick calculations in my head, the prices are about double compared to what I pay here. I noticed some of the shelves were empty and I wondered if they were sold out or just hadn't restocked them yet. It seems localities that are isolated always have a shortage of something. I love your videos Olivia! Keep em coming!

[@starseedmind7130]

Omg.than how much is one bedroom app for renting ?I live south Ontario

[@gamewhipess]

1500-2500 if you can find one.

[@kjul.]

How can people afford this? Are salaries there that high?

[@OldCanadianguy953]

How do handicapped folks live up there? If we were to live there for example, my wife cannot climb stairs at all. Is there any accommodation for such folks as my wife for housing and other needs to get around town?

[@jeanpauljeanpaul2530]

Awesome, I’m looking at doing a placement at the hospital, this was very insightful.

[@sheldon420420]

you live on an island in the arctic thousands of kilometers away from the nearest city

[@evandromoreira4215]

I've just changed my plans of going to the peaceful & frozen Iqaluit for retirement. My pension plan will not make it.

[@carltorjusen558]

how much for black sea caviar to be washed down with some don perignon on special occasions??

[@johnpinckney4979]

What is your local TV and radio like? I mean AM & FM. Anything besides CBC/SRC?

[@OliviaIrwin4]

John Pinckney we have satellite tv through Bell so we get all of the typical channels :) there are maybe 10 radio stations we get, some are local! We don’t listen to the radio much so I’m not too familiar with the stations.

[@jasongates-]

@@OliviaIrwin4 You have local TV stations, right?

[@LS-qv1ei]

Hi from Winnipeg! This is insane! Eating healthy up there should t be a luxury

[@odnak]

Wow! It’s 3 times more expensive than Hawaii prices.

[@OliviaIrwin4]

Yikes!

[@AraOG-o7w]

Canadien dollar

[@heavenlycrowned]

I compared it to Hawaii prices too.

[@dbsimon007]

I shed a tear for the people of nunavut

[@snowice3837]

Don't shed another tear. We're resilient, we've lived there for generations.

[@paulsonjeff]

Lmao

[@dbsimon007]

Those prices seriously insulted me

[@snowice3837]

@@dbsimon007 Agreed. 😤 But it's not without warrant or issues. Dry goods might be cheaper, but Perishables are expensive to fly in, well because they're Perishables. Ergo we also Hunt, Fish and Trap from nature.

[@jaimicottrill2831]

Would having a green house with solar uv lights work for growing some of your own food? Is it too cold to keep chickens?

[@noneyaasif6711]

Is there a way we can send things to the people there from us, I seen on a special that just a carton of orange juice is $12.99 here I can get it for $2.50 in Walmart (Florida)

[@carltorjusen558]

are there any greenhouses there for growing vegies and/or flowers??

[@maurixiogarciasanchez2278]

Nope

[@OliviaIrwin4]

Yes! iqaluitgreenhouse.com

[@philipduffer2669]

Very Very informative and well done! Thanks for sharing. I still think Ill try to get a job. Not too keep on staying in the US anymore. Even Iqualuit seems a better option. The baby is precious" Keep up the good work!!!!

[@puy389]

ya grocery's are expensive but what is your earnings up there?

[@Zspader]

Me: Wanna go to Nunavut! Nunavut:

[@cring0101]

Can someone talk abt. the wages ? How to make living for such insane price tabs at there ???

[@ElenaKomleva]

They make hundreds of thousands there. Look it up. School teacher makes up to 120K plus yearly allowance from the government of up to 22K a year. No one makes less than 60K there. But I still don't understand why some frozen and canned food is so expensive?! Fresh fruit and vegetables okay, but the rest?🤨

[@cring0101]

@@ElenaKomleva 120K plus.... Wow, it is fare enough ! Of course, there is no perfect. Comparing to most of the other countries, Canada is safe, well organized, affordable health care, better Social Security, a paradise of nature, such as, Yukon, Nunavut ...etc. The most important, most likely, people are gentle and honest ! A good thing worth of high price ! :-o ...... Here is the solution, throw away the fresh outside to the house. Then ...... A few moments later....., you got a nice, nice frozen food at a cheaper " fresh-price-tab ". Thx for your input ............ :->

[@markmarkin9126]

May I know the name of the track at the very beginning of this awesome video?

[@drsysop]

Awesome, How about Gas stations & car dealerships like to see them. Prices are a bit high even converted to USD but not as bad as Alaska prices.

[@OliviaIrwin4]

There aren’t any car dealerships! I’ve had a few people ask to see a gas station so I’ll do that soon :) thanks for watching!

[@Explorefood715rpg]

Hello there, very interesting to see this upload. This is the most that I have seen about pricing. I am planning to list pretty much everything including dry goods for my own information. Do you think you can do an episode of just kitchen items, then toilet, pastas can goods. This will help anyone including me who are seriously planning to move there so we will have idea what else to expect. If you can:) Thanks this video though is very informative. Well done.

[@colingee6687]

How much is a bag of ice?

[@phoenix1861]

Do prices there fluctuate by the season? I would think they might go up in winter time given that there would be more involved in transporting food that distance during the winter.

[@OliviaIrwin4]

As far as I know there isn’t much fluctuation. Dry goods are shipped up on sea lift in large quantities to last the season, and fresh is flown in!

[@KimberlySchmidt_88]

Goodness I want to cry! This is outrageous the prices there! How can people from other parts of Canada help??

[@jondaigle3821]

Hello 👋🏼I’m looking to move to Iqaluit and I was wondering if there was a furniture store there?

[@hunterstokes8577]

Yeah we got some furniture for sale

[@jeffreysmith8062]

How much does it cost to ship your life there?? Like moving all of your belongings and cars?? Housing itself seems crazy and that's if you can find it because my online searches haven't shown too much.....Great video btw...

[@meibolmacdougall4711]

Wow , so expensive and I thought here Watson lake Yukon was expensive but that crazy 😜

[@paullambert8701]

The price of groshreys as you call them are hard to compare as I presume those are all in Canadian dollars. Just looking at a few of them and converting the prices, they are only slightly more expensive than you will find in Sweden.

[@danmaddox8211]

And to think we subsidise a portion of those prices through taxes - what would these items cost if we didn't?

[@pollymonopoly8803]

This is absolutely unreal

[@eurobloke26]

Did you watch the #CBCMarketplace show about high food prices in Northern Canada?

[@OliviaIrwin4]

eurobloke26 i heard about it but I haven’t yet! Thanks for reminding me :)

[@coreybarnes8860]

I wonder if they accept EBT up there?

[@PirateShine]

WOW! Thank you to show this to us.

[@ripcityrory9768]

Converted to USD these aren't too horrible, besides some items which are just confusing. Like its still 7$ for a tomato

[@hobnobbings7181]

Sad that they have to pay such steep prices. All I saw was processed food. Just curious was there any Organic food there?

[@wally1452]

I think one of your fellow residents is Annabella Piugattuk...who was amazing in the film (2003/"The Snow Walker.") It is the most beautiful and moving film I may have ever seen. She is of the Inuit tribe I believe and this (then young 20 year old) just about tears ones heart. On the costs there? I am from the midwest U.S. and I could never afford to live there on my pension (am retired on Social Security.) My, what wages people must make there. I had to retire in 2000 and was earning $18 an hour and never made more than $40,000 a year but once in 48 years.

[@Dnosirrom]

What an eye opener...

[@876kev]

How much is rent ?

[@stepha2642]

Wait....how much for the baby?

[@omarmacias6098]

How much is the salary in order to survive there whit this food prices?

[@kilderok]

Looks like our local Walmart in Arkansas now

[@MomSpaghettiYT]

I wonder how many people have shoplifted

[@TheMabbasi]

Great Video

[@jbw53191]

Do they have Amazon Prime up there?

[@OliviaIrwin4]

Yes they do!

[@roachtoasties]

I did a quick approximate calculation on the Aquafina water. It came to about US$4.37 for one 710ml bottle. Not paying, even if I'm dying of thirst in the desert. I'll drink toilet water before paying that. :\

[@davgar4241]

🤣😂

[@DawnieRotten]

Those produce prices are so insane that it would make sense to erect a few buildings and turn them into 'indoor farms'. The buildings would be 'community gardens'. I've seen vids of people in the US & Canada who turn their basements into 'gardens'. Also people who have turned their basement, or just a room in their house, into growing micro greens (many turning that into a business). I couldn't live anywhere where I could not grow my own food!

[@OliviaIrwin4]

There is a community greenhouse! Some people grow things in their houses (herbs etc.)

[@webroamery4352]

Is there transportation means between Greenland and Canada?

[@moldyrefrigerator]

Yes, it's called a boat

[@webroamery4352]

@@moldyrefrigerator To whom should the boat belong?.. my private, or strictly I should use the official means?.. like I may have my own minimal inflatable boat, using my compass and struggle to reach Canada lands?

[@PrincessCarparkle]

Holy moly!!! I’ll never complain about my local store AGAIN

[@Zerdical]

fax

[@Zapperdude13]

How much is it to eat out??!

[@JuniorFan08]

And this was 4 years ago. Imagine prices are even higher now.

[@Ladyresin0978]

Fresh stuff more expensive there, but the dry goods cost the same now, here in AB lol. Thank you inflation

[@alice.ichigo]

The bag of selection brand fries for 10$ 😭😭😭 those are like 2.00 at Walmart in Ontario… sadly though a lot of these prices are pretty similar to how much groceries cost now with inflation. Some of this is just absolutely insane price gouging for Nunavut though😭

[@Viajero3000band]

There's restaurants in Iqaluit?

[@Viajero3000band]

@Northmoon 10 thanks

[@livingwithlex1918]

No omg I cannot believe this! We live in Texas and we get things for 1/4 of the price here 😭 I can get most fruit 3 for $1 here and the Powerade is like .78 here 😱 I even visited Kauai Hawaii and I thought that was expensive! Some stuff was but this is even higher! Wow!!!

[@philippes1987]

Living With Lex oh believe me, even by Canadian standards, this is crazy. I reacted badly to every price tag in the video...i mean, only the ramen noodles had a reasonable price

[@artsmart]

With groceries being so much, l wonder about restaurant prices.

[@Maegs27]

We really wanted to get a dog when we move up but those dog food prices are making me think again. Yikes! Thanks for all of your videos. It’s making me feel much more prepared.

[@OliviaIrwin4]

We got all of her food with amazon! :) glad you’re enjoying them!

[@Maegs27]

Oh awesome!! Thanks for the tip. 😊

[@Roger_Rabbit_Adventures]

Think the dog would have to work some for those prices! 😮

[@EvanleS-fr7mf]

Name of the Song