{"id":482184,"date":"2026-02-18T04:04:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T04:04:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/482184\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T04:04:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T04:04:12","slug":"city-staff-oppose-iqaluit-cannabis-stores-relocation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/482184\/","title":{"rendered":"City staff oppose Iqaluit cannabis store\u2019s relocation"},"content":{"rendered":"

An Iqaluit cannabis store is facing opposition from city staff over its proposed move to a new location before its current lease expires.<\/p>\n

Kevin Ikeno, who co-owns Higher Experience with his former wife Frances Ikeno, asked the city to rezone a property at 609 Mattaaq Cres. to allow a cannabis shop to operate there.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s approximately a 30-metre move from the store\u2019s current location at 70 Fred Coman St., according to a report on the agenda for Tuesday evening\u2019s planning and development committee meeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe proposed site is within the same building as residential units and close to a daycare and school,\u201d the planning report says.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not an \u201cappropriate distance\u201d from schools and what the report called other sensitive areas.<\/p>\n

The proposed location would be 134 metres away from a playground, 133 metres from Nakasuk School, and 15 metres from Pairivik Daycare.<\/p>\n

The new site is \u201cliterally across the street\u201d from the store\u2019s current location, said Frances Ikeno in an interview Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/p>\n

She said the company faced the same questions from council before opening at its current location \u2014 too close to a school, too close to a playground \u2014 that it faces now.<\/p>\n

Council approved the rezoning then and it should do so now for the new spot, she said.<\/p>\n

For the time being, she said, the company is taking things \u201cstep by step\u201d and will decide how to proceed after council makes its decision.<\/p>\n

Higher Experience\u2019s lease on its current site is set to expire in August.<\/p>\n

The Ikenos have had more than a three-year history of legal fights with their landlord, Northview Residential REIT.<\/p>\n

They took Northview to court in 2024, alleging they had a verbal agreement with the property company\u2019s regional manager to extend the lease. Northview argued that the deal was invalid, but a judge sided with the cannabis company and ordered the lease to be extended until August 2026.<\/p>\n

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