The Olympic torch continued its long northern journey on Monday, travelling from the highest reaches of the Canadian Arctic to the Nunavut capital of Iqaluit.

The flame left Monday morning from Canadian Forces Station Alert — the most northerly stop on the torch's 106-day cross-country journey — and stopped in the High Arctic communities of Grise Fiord and Resolute Bay.

A torch relay began near Iqaluit at 5:30 p.m. ET in the nearby community of Apex, where the first of 64 runners departed from the former Hudson Bay Company store building.

An evening celebration began after the last torchbearer brought the flame into the parking lot of the Parnaivik building at Iqaluit's Four Corners intersection around 6:15 p.m.

"Our capital city, being chosen as one of the torch relay celebration sites, is an honour. So it's going to be a big show," said Nicola Dent, who helped organize the Iqaluit relay.

The celebration at Four Corners included Inuit throat singers, a local band, and a big fireworks display to cap it off, said Dent.

Among the 64 torchbearers in Iqaluit Monday afternoon was Toronto resident Rudy Santos, who flew to Iqaluit for the first time Monday to take part in the relay.

Santos said he is paying his own way to Nunavut, after his name was drawn to run with the torch in the Nunavut capital.

"It is definitely a once in a lifetime experience," Santos said. "I'm the son of, you know, immigrant parents, and talk about the Canadian dream, you know?"

From Iqaluit, the Olympic flame will head south on Tuesday morning to Kuujjuaq, Que., where four local youths will carry the flame around the community.