The federal and provincial governments announced a combined $60 million in funding for infrastructure supporting the Port of Churchill.
The February 23 announcement saw provincial and federal governments commit $30 million each to the Arctic Gateway Group. The limited partnership owns and operates the Port of Churchill and the Hudson Bay Railway, which connects The Pas to Churchill. The funds are intended upgrade the port and to complete repairs to the railway, which has not been in operation since 2021.
“This means jobs will be maintained. This means mining and forestry opportunities will open up, including, of course, critical minerals, which are essential to our country’s north,” said Canada’s Northern Affairs Minister Dan Vandal. “Manitobans, through the Bay Line communities, will have the opportunity to position themselves as a true gateway to the Arctic and a true gateway to the world.”
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The funding announcement builds on the Government of Canada’s and Manitoba’s previous commitments to restore rail service to Churchill and surrounding communities, which began in 2018 funding to establish the Arctic Gateway Group.
The Port of Churchill was once bustling during the three months of the year that it was open. That was almost entirely because of Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) shipments, which accounted for 90 per cent of the traffic that went through the port. But with the demise of the CWB’s single desk selling authority in 2012, volumes began to plummet until operations ceased in 2015. Amid much fanfare, in 2019, grain shipments through the port restarted, only to be put on hiatus again in 2021.
Churchill Mayor Michael Spence said grain traffic will return, but the plan is to be less reliant on a single commodity.
“We are a port community, and one of the commodities that we all know has been historically shipped through the port of Churchill is grain, but we will diversify; we will look at other products as well,” said Spence.
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew noted that there are agricultural areas where it makes a lot of sense to choose Churchill as a port destination.
“We know there’s a lot of interest for grain producers in the Pas area, there is a real desire to get goods to market here,” he said. But while shipping agricultural products will remain part of the role the Port of Churchill plays, Kinew, like Spence sees a future less dependent on grain.
“The Port of Churchill makes Manitoba a maritime province, and both the Port and the rail line offer so much potential when it comes to international trade, energy exports and building out the supply chains that create good jobs in Northern Manitoba,” said Kinew.
