NUNAVUT
It's raining money in Nunavut – almost $4 million, to be precise – thanks to a rapidly-forming cloud called the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency.

Kirk Aningaat, a driver with Peter Expediting Ltd., prepares to travel down the 105 km gravel road from Baker Lake to Meadowbank, Agnico-Eagle's gold mine. Recent investments from the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency are meant, in part, to stimulate the creation of new, Nunavummiut-owned companies catering to the mining sector, among others. - Guy Quenneville/NNSL photo

CanNor, as it's more widely known, was created one year ago by the federal government as a stand-alone regional economic development agency, taking over several funding programs from Indian and Northern Affairs Canada.

Over five years, CanNor is expected to pump $50 million into the developing economies of the NWT, Nunavut and Yukon.

As the agency recently announced, $3.8 million of that is being spent this fiscal year in Nunavut, whose economy is expected to rebound substantially thanks to the opening of Agnico-Eagle's Meadowbank gold mine and a robust mineral exploration sector.

CanNor's funds are targeted toward business planning, cultural tourism initiatives, staff and client training, conference and workshop planning and engineering designs.

The Baffin Regional Chamber of Commerce, based in Iqaluit, received just over $62,000 to help fund sector opportunities workshops helping Nunavummiut access resources to help them form businesses catering to the mining sector and other industries.

"Sometimes, there are entrepreneurs that want to do things; they're just not aware of what kind of opportunities are out there," said Hal Timar, the chamber's executive director.

"Say a mine comes into town – sometimes people don't realize the opportunities that are there until the mine is already there and there's other people coming in already ready to provide those services for the mine, so some of the local people miss out on those opportunities."

Other investments have helped advance the quality of life in some of Nunavut' small communities.

In Taloyoak, where the population reached 875 last summer, the Paleajook Eskimo Co-op received $250,000 in federal funds to build a new 6,000 square foot store – triple the size of the original store.

If Nancy Uquqtuq is any indication, residents are enjoying the new co-op's expanded offerings.

"It's like we're not in town anymore," said Uquqtuq, a receptionist at the hamlet. "We go in and it's like we're somewhere else. It's too big and nice!"

Not that she's complaining.

"There's more groceries, more varieties to choose from," she said.

CanNor's investments come at a crucial time for Nunavut, which is expected to experience much economic growth in the years to come.

While dwindling mineral exploration and the end of construction at Meadowbank caused the territory to suffer a 10.6 per cent decline in economic activity in 2009, Nunavut's GDP is set to increase by 12.9 per cent this year, thanks a strong mineral exploration sector and the start of commercial production at Meadowbank last March, according to a newly released economic forecast by the Conference Board of Canada.

"Construction of the Meadowbank mine provided a large economic boost, and now that the mine has reached commercial production, the economy will benefit not only from the actual extraction of the resource, but also from the transportation of gold from the site," read the Conference Board's report.

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