Willow Allen tells PEOPLE that just because the cost of living is so high, that doesn’t mean people there “have way more money”

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For Willow Allen, growing up in Inuvik, Northwest Territories, meant learning the rhythms of Arctic life, from traveling on the land to understanding the importance of community.

Now a model and mother of one who has traveled for work and lived in southern Canada for school, Allen has seen how dramatically the cost of everyday necessities can differ within the same country.

In the North, groceries, fuel, heating and household essentials can put significant pressure on families, even in communities with seasonal road access. The difference, however, is more than a number on a receipt; it shapes how people provide for their families and navigate daily life.

“A lot of people really don’t realize how significant these costs are when trying to live and feed your families, because it isn’t just groceries,” Allen, 27, tells PEOPLE exclusively. “It’s clothing, school supplies, materials for home maintenance, gas, heating your home, etc.”

Allen’s experience offers a window into a reality that can be difficult for Canadians living farther south to imagine. In a recent TikTok video, she compared the cost of the same groceries in the North and South, showing how quickly a routine shopping trip can become a financial strain.

Using prices from her comparison, a basket of groceries that cost $141.25 in Inuvik would cost $79.66 farther south—a difference of nearly 77%. Even with an “elders’ discount,” the northern total remained considerably higher.

“People are shocked to see us pay $47 for four chicken breasts, or $21.49 for a 4-liter chocolate milk, and this would be from probably one of the least expensive Inuvialuit communities — because we at least have seasonal road access in and out,” she explains to PEOPLE.

According to Allen, one of the biggest “misconceptions” is that people in the North must earn more or “have way more money” to afford their higher cost of living, but she insists “that’s not at all the case.”

While some jobs offer a northern living allowance to help offset expenses, the minimum wage is still $17.20 an hour, meaning many residents face significantly higher prices without a comparable increase in income.

Although hunting can help families put meat on the table at lower costs, fuel, equipment repairs, work schedules and other responsibilities often become “barriers” that make getting out on the land difficult, especially when gas can cost nearly $27 per gallon.

Growing up in Inuvik also meant understanding that distance affects more than just prices. For instance, many medical services are unavailable locally, requiring people to travel over 30 hours to cities like Yellowknife for care.

“Needing to leave your community to give birth, to see a doctor, to see a dentist. It can be hard for people who are going through really difficult times in their lives, like cancer treatments, and needing to spend long periods of time going through that away from their home and family,” Allen highlights.

Despite these challenges, Allen’s memories of the North are rooted in the strength of the people around her. Four generations of her family are connected to the same land, and she grew up learning from relatives and Elders, watching people share hunted meat and help neighbors without expecting anything in return.

“People check on one another, share what they have and help when someone needs it,” Allen explains. “There is so much knowledge passed down about living in these conditions, and that knowledge comes from generations of experience in the Arctic.”

Although Arctic winters demand preparation, practical knowledge and respect for the conditions, Allen tells PEOPLE, “You learn to prepare.”

“In the winter that means dressing properly, paying attention to the conditions, knowing when it is safe to travel. You learn to plan ahead, keep extra supplies and listen to people who have experience traveling on the land,” she adds.

Through modeling, Allen found herself in rooms with people whose lives looked very different from her own, and she began to notice how curious they were about where she came from. The questions people asked, and their interest in hearing about her experiences, made her want to share more of what life in the North was really like.

“Life in the Arctic was always what was normal to me; it wasn’t until I started traveling for modeling and being on different sets with different people from different places that I realized how different our way of life is,” she admits.

For Allen, sharing those experiences means showing both the beauty of northern life and the realities families face. The price of groceries may surprise people, but it is only one part of a much bigger picture — one defined by deep cultural connections and a community that continues to rely on generations of knowledge and care.