The chief executive of the North West Co. Inc. is rejecting accusations that its stores in remote Indigenous communities hiked food prices as funding flowed in this year from federal programs aimed at making necessities more affordable.

Dan McConnell made the comments Tuesday during a call for shareholders discussing the companys third-quarter financial results, in which it reported consolidated sales of $637.5 million.

Absolutely not, he said when asked if the companys stores in Northern Canada were raising prices when federal funding arrived in the region. Were actually looking at lowering prices by bringing in other options and lower cost items under a private label program.

The North West Co. operates 118 Northern grocery stores in remote communities across Northern Canada, as well as a host of other businesses, including Quickstop convenience stores in Northern Canada and Alaska and a dozen Cost-U-Less stores in regions including St. Maarten, the Hawaiian Islands and the Caribbean.

Last month, Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., the land-claims body representing Nunavut Inuit, said it is planning to investigate whether retailers, including Northern stores, hiked food prices after communities began receiving money this year under the federal Jordans Principle and Inuit Child First Initiative programs. The programs provide funding to ensure children get adequate food and education.

The consolidated sales figure reported for North West Co.s third quarter, which ended Oct. 31, marks a 3.3-per cent increase over the same quarter last year, but McConnell said that didnt translate to the bottom line, as the companys net earnings were $36.4 million, down from $38 million in the third quarter of 2023.

The company also faced a seven per cent increase in selling, operating and administrative costs compared with the same quarter last year, partly driven by higher minimum wages and new hiring, McConnell said.

Sales in the companys Canadian operations were up by four per cent, thanks in part to increased demand in communities where people qualified for government funding and payouts from a 2021 settlement between Canada and certain First Nations over drinking water.

In Canada, we expect consumer demand in the fourth quarter and into 2025 to continue to be positively impacted by the distribution of First Nations drinking water settlement payments and government spending on First Nations Child and Family Service programs, including Jordans Principle and the Inuit Child First programs, McConnell told shareholders during the call.