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Construction and Greenland delegation among highlights at upcoming Nunavut Trade Show

Territorial government taking control of resources also a focal point this year, says organizer
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Iqaluit Mayor Solomon Awa gives the keynote address at the 2023 Nunavut Trade Show in Iqaluit. This year's event is slated for Sept. 17-18.

Nunavummiut are gearing up for the first big post-summer conference of the year, one that is a boon for many businesses in the territory.

The Nunavut Trade Show, hosted by the Baffin Regional Chamber of Commerce, will be taking place at Iqaluit's Aqsarniit Hotel from Sept. 17-19.

“We usually hit around 350 [attendees]” said Chris West, the chamber's executive director. “It is the biggest event in the territory that supports business, and small business. It represents a lot of business from the chamber, and also represents business from those [companies from the south] that have partnerships with Nunavut businesses.”

Apart from the usual vendors, this year Nunavummiut can look forward to “a large delegation from Greenland... in conjunction with the new Canadian North and Air Greenland partnership,” West noted.

He said the trade show is expecting “15 to 20 folks [from Greenland], with various business backgrounds,” such as fisheries, economic development, port authorities and lawyers.

West added that he expects construction to be the single largest industry at the event because of the investment in the Nunavut Housing Corporation’s “Nunavut 3000” program.

“There’s a lot of activity and development in the territory because of it,” he said.

When discussing business challenges, West remarked that he considers the biggest potential obstruction to business development to be “the cost of getting goods here. Not so much the shipping itself, but the cost of goods. Everything is going up — some as much as 50 per cent. It changes the landscape.”

In general, he said, “We’re excited about the trade show. Nunavut is changing every year. Now that Nunavut has signed devolution with the federal government, there are lots more exciting changes happening. There’s a lot more to be done, but just preparing for the GN to take control over their own resources.”



Kira Wronska Dorward

About the Author: Kira Wronska Dorward

I attended Trinity College as an undergraduate at the University of Toronto, graduating in 2012 as a Specialist in History. In 2014 I successfully attained a Master of Arts in Modern History from UofT..
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