Kitikmeot Corporation (KC), a 100 per cent Inuit-owned company, is an economic the Kitikmeot Region of Canada’s Arctic.
Since 1990, Kitikmeot Region has created economic activities that contribute to the overall wealth and wellbeing of the Kitikmeot region under the mission of helping to define the Kitikmeot region through strong professional relationships.
As experts in connecting companies in the North, the KC team prides itself on fostering the relationships, resources, access to help the Kitikmeot region prosper. KC connects companies directly with opportunities in the Kitikmeot region by providing access, training, resources, governance, and more. There are abundant opportunities in the North for those who can approach them with creativity and an open mind, and as guides and advocates in the region, KC promotes and fosters constructive growth.
History
The early 90’s saw substantial legislative advancement for Inuit land claims that led to the establishment in 1999 of Nunavut as a territory lead by independent Inuit government.
During this lead up regional Inuit associations such as the Kitikmeot Inuit Association were established to administer legislated land claim benefits to local Inuit. Nagipakvik was renamed Kitikmeot Corporation and restructured under the KIA as a wholly owned subsidiary.
“Our shareholder’s goals and purpose are what defines our own mission, which is to generate wealth and employment opportunities for Kitikmeot Inuit as they are represented by our shareholder.” Dino Forlin Chief Operating Officer, tells Business Elite Canada. “I think its fair to say that from its humble beginnings, KC has grown to become the cornerstone of business in Western Nunavut by and for Kitikmeot Inuit land claim beneficiaries.”
KC’s initial investment strategy focused on regional business opportunities—primarily in developing commercial and residential real estate, local construction and establishing support services for the local resource industry. “Slow and steady regional growth in these sectors has built a solid foundation that in turn has allowed us to expand and diversify our portfolio in a manner that aligns with Kitikmeot Inuit interests,” says Forlin. “For example, we’ve made significant investments in businesses that can sell varied products and services throughout Canada and globally and yet still maintain a strong business presence in the North.”
KC has decades of experience creating strong networks and resources, allowing the team to offer a holistic approach that ensures the region, and partner companies prosper and thrive.
Most recently, KC branched out into infrastructure development, with multiple projects in development focused on telecommunication and energy solutions that address the service gaps we currently experience in Nunavut. KC is proud to partner with companies seeking to expand North, and its support and networks have helped dozens of businesses grow and thrive in the Kitikmeot region and beyond.
Nuna Group of Companies
KC is the majority shareholder of the Nuna Group of Companies, one of the largest Indigenous-owned civil construction and earthworks businesses in Canada, with over 30 years of experience working in remote northern locations and arctic environments. Nuna has had a role in virtually all major mine development in northern Canada and is active elsewhere in Canada as well, such as in Ontario, where it has a strong presence delivering heavy civil works to mining operations in the resource intensive region known as the “Ring of Fire”—one of the most promising mineral development opportunities for critical minerals in the province.
KC also participates in property development and management through several channels, holding a substantial portfolio of commercial and residential properties in the Kitikmeot region of Nunavut. “We are a shareholder of NCC Investment Group, Nunavut’s largest construction and property management company. NCC has recently been tasked by the Nunavut Housing Corporation with building 2000 housing units in Nunavut over the next ten years to help address our housing crisis,” says Forlin.
KC is also a shareholder of Nunavut Sealink and Supply Inc, a marine transport firm that delivers annual cargo and fuel sealift to communities throughout Nunavut during the summer thaw. The Company also holds a minority ownership position in medical boarding homes based in Yellowknife and Edmonton. These facilities, each operating under the business name Larga, provide a home away from home to Inuit beneficiaries that must travel south to access medical services.
Impact on the Kitikmeot region
By partnering with quality operators and working with industry, employers and the KIA, KC encourages local Inuit owned business development and we help put practices in place that support employment training and professional development for Kitikmeot Inuit. “Regional unemployment rates continue to remain much higher than the national average, primarily due to lack of local opportunity,” says Forlin. “Our goal is to work with local stakeholders to correct this situation, both by continuing to develop opportunities in the local resource industry and by incorporating employment and training requirements in our current infrastructure initiatives.”
KC’s success in local business development means it has the resources to finance business growth as well as deliver a consistent dividend to our shareholder. The KIA provides essential social and culture services to Kitikmeot Inuit beneficiaries and the dividend income we contribute helps finance these activities.
KC also offers continual training programs for employment opportunities with its subsidiaries in construction, drilling and camp catering and housekeeping. KC fulfils its obligation to identify, train and onboard Kitikmeot Inuit candidates to support labour requirements for its businesses that provide labour intensive services.
Sometimes this requires creative solutions, such as moving its annual driller training programs from Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, to its operating partner’s facilities in Prince George BC. “Our partner, Geotech Drilling Services, can now deliver more applicable and focused operational and safety training to our Inuit candidates,” says Forlin. “Trained candidates are then deployed to the Hope Bay mining operation in Nunavut, where our subsidiary Geotech Ekutak has a three-year contract to provide exploration drilling services to Agnico Eagle Mines.”
“These changes to the training environment naturally improve effectiveness and confidence for candidates as they are deployed to work the rigs, and ultimately improves retention once they’re there,” says Forlin. “We’re also currently in the implementation stage of an initiative that we’re calling the Kitikmeot Inuit Employment Readiness Project. The objective of this project is to improve Inuit employment opportunities and engagement, particularly with respect to the more skilled and better paying positions at our industrial work sites. This project, sponsored by KC and facilitated by the Ottawa-based Stratos Consulting Group, is using a cross-functional approach to meet our goals by engaging both industry employers and community stakeholders to collaboratively identify and implement solutions.”
Partnerships
“Our mandate is to encourage and support the growth of Kitikmeot Inuit-owned business in our region,” says Forlin. “The most visible gap in the Kitikmeot between local expertise and market demand is with resource industry support services.”
Kitikmeot Corporation fills this gap by partnering with quality operators that are often based outside of Nunavut. “We’ll establish an Inuit business that can meet the needs of local industry by working with partners that can not only provide quality service but that also have the resources and desire to train and employ the local Inuit workforce,” says Forlin. KC now has over 15 Inuit majority-owned businesses that leverage this type of relationship to provide support services in the Kitikmeot region. Some examples of the types of service KC deliver to local industry through its partnerships include freight forwarding and logistics, marine transport, medical services, mine construction, drilling, environmental engineering and remediation, waste management and camp operations.
“In some cases, the strength of our relationships with our partners has resulted in a decision to invest in our partner’s businesses,” says Forlin. “For example, over years of working with BBE Expediting Ltd, an Edmonton based logistics firm, we developed a strong respect for the competence and vision of its leadership team and a good understanding of the company’s growth potential. We’re now proud to be a shareholder and a participant in leading the future of this business.”
More recently, KC become a shareholder in Geotech Drilling Services Ltd, a Prince George-based geotechnical drilling company that operates throughout Western Canada and overseas. “Again, our confidence in this investment decision grew out of a long-term partnership that was originally established to provide exploration drilling services to Kitikmeot customers.”
The length and strength of KC’s existing partnerships speak for themselves. The team has a proven track record of working with quality operators to develop and grow business opportunities in our region, and has earned its reputation of bringing commitment, skill and experience to our governance responsibilities and helping its partners navigate the unique challenges in doing business in Nunavut. As Forlin points out, KC’s network of relationships is viewed as an asset to our business partners. “We are often able to create value for our customers by strategically leveraging our network to develop complementary and collaborative offerings that in turn grow revenues for our individual businesses.”
With such a successful history, the horizon is very bright for Kitikmeot Corp. “Relatively recent geopolitical developments and changes in national policy direction are having local impacts that in turn create game-changing opportunities for us,” says Forlin. “NORAD modernization, increased marine traffic through the Northwest Passage, renewable energy initiatives, broadband ubiquity as an essential service—for each of these areas of development we’re still in their early days of understanding local impacts to our region.”
KC is positioned to get in front of the new infrastructure requirements and support services that will be required as each of these areas of development proceed over the coming years. The Corporation is ideally placed to take a lead role in moving these opportunities and initiatives forward in a manner that aligns with the interests of the Kitikmeot Inuit.
“Our Board has recognized that organizational transformation will be necessary if we are to achieve our ambitions. In the short term the main areas of focus for KC’s management team will be to build out our organizational capabilities and adapt our capital allocation strategy in order to better meet our five-year growth objectives.”
For more information, please visit www.kitikmeotcorp.ca
