By Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press
The Port of Churchill in Churchill, Manitoba is shown on Wednesday, July 4, 2018. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods)
The company that owns a rail line and port in northern Manitoba has increased its capacity to transport goods, as governments eye potential growth in trade through Hudson Bay to overseas markets.
Officials with Arctic Gateway Group said Tuesday a new dedicated critical mineral storage facility has been built at the Port of Churchill, tripling the port’s storage capacity for critical minerals.
A second weekly way freight train, which brings goods to isolated communities, is now operating along the company’s Hudson Bay Railway, which ends in Churchill. The boost has been made possible by money spent on infrastructure to make the track more reliable, as well as staff training, the company said.
“The Port of Churchill is primed to become a major Canadian trade asset,” Arctic Gateway Group CEO Chris Avery said.
The federal and provincial governments have invested millions of dollars in the rail line and port, partly to boost trade but also to ensure goods and people can get to communities such as Churchill — a town of 900 on the coast of Hudson Bay that is not accessible by road. The town also ships supplies to some communities in Nunavut and is an ecotourist hub known for polar bears and beluga whales.
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew has said the region could be a good route for increased trade with Europe and expansion could fit with the federal government’s plan for nation-building infrastructure.
Kinew has been open to the idea of a pipeline to the region, as well as a second port on the bay that might have a longer ice-free season and be further away from the sensitive ecology in the Churchill area.
Avery said the Port of Churchill has good infrastructure in place already and the ice-free season is expected to expand with climate change.
“We believe that the sea lanes can be open up to six months of the year already,” Avery said.
Unlike a potential second port, Churchill already has supporting infrastructure ranging from an airport with a long runway to a townsite with a hospital and other services, Avery added.
Kinew has said he’s open to different options, but the private sector has to put forward ideas.
A trade corridor could ship Manitoba’s low-carbon hydroelectricity westward to the other Prairie provinces, Kinew said last month, and a pipeline heading the other direction could carry oil, liquefied natural gas or other material.
The Port of Churchill’s shipping season is just getting underway following the spring ice breakup.
The port is expecting critical mineral shipments, three Nunavut supply vessels and two cruise ships this summer, Avery said. More ships are expected later in the season to carry agricultural exports.
