Remote Northern Communities Get Relief Through Generosity

In a parking lot in St. Albert, Alberta, a shipping container filled with necessities is ready for a journey that will take months. It's headed to Ulukhaktok, a hamlet of fewer than 500 people on Victoria Island in the Northwest Territories — accessible only by air for most of the year, reachable by barge once summers open the Arctic waters.

The cargo is part of The Society of St. Vincent de Paul's North of 60 Project, a volunteer-powered initiative that ships food banks supplies, school materials, and community items to Canada's most remote settlements. This year marks the first shipment via barge since 2023, when water levels on the Mackenzie River finally rose high enough to allow passage.

For the past two years, supplies had to be trucked all the way to Tuktoyaktuk, then flown — a route that cost nearly $20,000 per shipping container. That price tag makes every kilogram precious in communities where a jar of pasta sauce runs $15, a jug of milk costs $10, and a box of chicken strips reaches nearly $30.

"Even if you're working full time you have to depend on the food bank," said Ulukhaktok resident Emily Kudlak. "You just barely make it payday to payday."

Linda Tutt, chair of the St. Albert chapter, has visited the hamlet three times and witnessed the transformation a barge shipment brings. "By late summer we are low on certain items at the stores," Kudlak said. "The excitement, because of what's coming — it becomes a celebration for everyone."

The project operates on donations and volunteer coordination, proof that generosity doesn't stop at provincial borders. For residents of one of Canada's most isolated communities, a single barge arrival becomes the year's most anticipated event.