GJOA HAVEN, NUNAVUT -- In Canada’s most northerly territory, a set of Arctic greenhouses is growing more than just leafy greens.

Locals in Gjoa Haven hope that their new “grow pods” can be seeds for their children’s future.

The project, developed by the non-profit Arctic Research Foundation, has already produced food for the hamlet of about 1,000 people. Food scarcity plagues much of Nunavut where groceries can cost 10 times the national average. Job scarcity too compounds the problem in Nunavut, where the unemployment rate is the highest in the country at more than 14 per cent.

But areas of the northern territory, which has maintained a rich traditional culture, are embracing new technologies like the “grow pods.” The greenhouses are dubbed “Naurvik,” a word that means “continuous growing” in Inuktitut. They’re an investment in Gjoa Haven’s future.

One of the hopeful benefactors of that future is Dustin Atkichok, a 22-year-old local who helps operate the “power pod” that charges the greenhouses.

“It’s pretty hard up north, because they don’t do much hiring,” said Atkichok during a recent visit with CTV National News. “I’m learning here. I learned a lot about the computer.”

The territory has a large and growing population of youth like Atkichok. Almost 60 per cent of its population is under 25, and most of them under 15. But the region’s schools have struggled with low attendance rates in recent years. According to a Department of Education report in 2019, attendance dipped below 70 per cent during the 2016 to 2017 school year.

Curriculums are evolving and projects like the Arctic Research Foundation greenhouses are making efforts to re-engage youth. On a recent field trip, a group of young locals took a school bus to the “grow pods” where they learned about the operation and its potential.

“It’s a good future,” one of the operators implored as the kids filed out. “Just stay in school.”

Those same kids will likely become the stewards of the project if it continues, which it very well could, according to Adrian Schimnowski, the CEO of the Arctic Research Foundation. The Gjoa Haven council has endorsed the project and hopes to expand the use of green energy.

”This project can last 20 years and beyond. There’s no reason why it shouldn’t,” Schimnowski told CTV National News.

“We have new doors opened. We don’t know where that’s going to go but it’s very bright.”