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QAMANITTUAQ/BAKER LAKE - Iqaluit and three other Nunavut communities will receive more banking options thanks to a partnership between commercial lender Atuqtuarvik Corporation and First Nations Bank of Canada (FNBC).

Thanks to a partnership with Atuqtuarvik Corporation, the First Nations Bank of Canada will open a branch in Iqaluit next fall. Pictured here in Iqaluit last spring, are, from left, Greig Cooper, vice president of operations for the bank; Arden Buskell, the bank's president; John Hickes, chairperson for Atuqtuarvik; Keith Martell, executive chair for the bank; and Ken Toner, president and CEO of Atuqtuarvik. - photo courtesy of Nations Bank of Canada

After Atuqtuarvik bought one fifth of the bank's outstanding shares last spring, becoming the bank's second-largest shareholder, the two organizations entered into an agreement that will work toward the opening of a new full-service bank under FNBC's name in downtown Iqaluit next fall and three banking kiosks in three other hamlets currently without banking services.

Baker Lake - with Agnico-Eagle Mines' 300-person Meadowbank gold mine set to begin commercial production nearby in 2010, and a score of other exploration activity occurring in the area as well - is under serious consideration, as is Pond Inlet, the nearest community to Baffinland Iron Mines' future Mary River deposit, tentatively planned to begin mining in 2014, said Keith Martell, executive chairman of FNBC.

"Both of those communities are highly likely candidates for an agency," said Martell, nevertheless stressing the agencies will not debut until the Iqaluit branch, which will act as a central hub and clearinghouse, opens.

"But if our branch is constructed on time, by winter we should be looking after some of those agencies," said Martell.

The agencies will be partnerships between FNBC and local retailers like the Northern Store or the Co-op, where the kiosks will actually take root and will allow customers to open chequings accounts, establish lines of credit and perform other transactions they currently must travel outside of their community to do.

In Nunavut's many communities, there are only five banks: Royal Bank of Canada branches in Iqaluit, Rankin Inlet and Cambridge Bay and CIBC branches in Iqaluit and Rankin Inlet.

"Back when the Bank of Montreal closed in Iqaluit a couple years ago, NTI had mandated our company to look into creating a made-in-Nunavut bank," said Ken Toner, president and CEO of Atuqtuarvik.

Atuqtuarvik determined it would not be able to put up the $30 million necessary to open its own bank and began considering partnerships. When FNBC extended an invitation to Atuqtuarvik to attend its annual general meeting three years ago and invited Atuqtuarvik to participate in its share offering, the timing was perfect.

Then came the agreement, which has the potential to benefit Atuqtuarvik as well as the bank. Atuqtuarvik gives loans to viable Inuit businesses seeking between $800,000 and $3 million.

"By partnering with this bank, when they open a branch, that bank will now deal with individuals - Ski-Doo loans, car loans, the same thing a normal bank would have," said Toner.

"If the bank takes over a deal for a particular client, that now opens it up for that particular client to borrow from us for other projects," he added. "They can then hire more employees, and the cycle goes on."