Port of Churchill sees renewed interest as Canada looks to diversify trade routes

A polar bear statue stands near a road, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024, in Churchill, Man. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Manitoba may be smack dab in the middle of the country, but its premier wishes to remind Canadians it’s a maritime province.

“When you think of Manitoba, you think of the Prairies, you think of the bush, but did you know that you can get to saltwater as well?” Wab Kinew said in early February as the province and Ottawa announced a joint $80-million investment in the Port of Churchill.

Trade routes that eschew the United States have become a focus as U.S. President Donald Trump continues to threaten Canadian sovereignty and subject businesses to tariff whiplash. One option is the rail-accessible deepwater port in Churchill, Man., near where the Churchill River pours into Hudson Bay.

Kinew said investing in the port is one way to “Trump proof” the economy, enabling trade connections with Europe and beyond. He said the U.S. remains a friend, but “we need to be able to place some bets on some other options at the table.”

Arctic Gateway Group, a partnership of 41 First Nations and other local communities, owns and operates the port, a marine tank farm and the Hudson Bay Railway running from Churchill to Canadian National’s network in The Pas.

Churchill has the potential to be a major export point for critical minerals in high demand globally, said AGG chief executive Chris Avery.

Last year, 10,000 tonnes of Manitoba-mined zinc concentrate moved out of the port, he said. There are plans to double the amount shipped under a partnership with Hudbay Minerals Inc., as well as triple the storage capacity.

“Everything we’re doing just makes even more sense now,” Avery said of AGG’s strategy amid the Canada-U.S. trade chaos.

An agreement has also been announced to import chemicals from overseas via Churchill to be used at Genesis Fertilizers’ new Saskatchewan plant. Those materials currently come from the United States.

Avery said there have been “cursory conversations” about shipping oil to international buyers via Churchill.

“The current geopolitical situation maybe accelerates some of those discussions.”

Barry Prentice, who directs the University of Manitoba’s Transport Institute, said a container facility would make a lot of sense at Churchill.

Western-bound containers from Europe arrive in Montreal “and then have a very long rail ride out to the Prairies, which is pretty expensive,” he said.

“And if you look at Churchill, it’s a very short route ... There could be great savings there.”

Serasu Duran, a professor at the University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business, said having alternate trade routes are key to resilient supply chains.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, port congestion was the main hurdle in getting goods to customers, not production capacity, she said.

“The tensions with a certain trading partner might make existing routes more expensive in certain times or disasters might affect the available routes,” said Duran.

“So it’s always nice to have alternative options and Churchill is more so a diverse option rather than a redundancy or a backup, because it’s creating new channels rather than replacing the existing ones.”

She added Churchill can also be helpful in bolstering domestic supply chains, as well as enabling connections to northern territories that struggle with a high cost of living and rely heavily on pricey air travel.

Climate change has been a double-edged sword for Churchill’s viability.

A warming Arctic means longer periods with ice-free waters. Shipping lanes are currently open four months of the year, but Avery said the port is working with researchers at the nearby marine observatory to see if that can be extended to five or six months without the need for icebreakers.

Rising temperatures also mean thawing permafrost, making the ground beneath the track less stable and damage more likely.

Avery said technology is helping keep the Arctic Gateway Group ahead of those issues. Ground-penetrating radar on locomotives combined with GPS help detect potential trouble spots, while drones can keep track of the levelness of the line.

Prentice said bigger investments may be necessary in shoring up the railway’s northernmost segment.

“If we’re going to actually be serious with the Port of Churchill, at some point in time I believe we’re going to have to look at relocating that part of the rail line further west onto the rocks,” he said.

A big chunk of the railway was washed out by flooding in 2017, cutting off a vital transportation link for the 900 people who live in Churchill, which is inaccessible by road. At the time, it was owned by private U.S. firm OmniTRAX.

Avery said the railway suffered from a lack of investment from its previous owner, but now it’s run and maintained by the very people who rely on it.

“Now we’re fully Canadian owned and fully Indigenous owned, and we are making up for decades of neglect,” he said.

Being in charge of the port instils a sense of pride, Churchill Mayor Michael Spence, a member of York Factory First Nation, said at the February funding announcement.

“Northern communities fought to control the port and rail line, not just for Manitoba, but for Canada,” he said.

“There was a lot of interest when the port came up for sale, especially from foreign buyers in the north. We said no, not anymore. We’re going to take control of these assets and we’re going to secure a future.”

Getting the port to live up to its potential is going to take vastly more investment than what’s been put forward so far, said Prentice.

“We’re not talking about millions,” he said.

“If you want to make this port work, you have to start getting into the billions.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 30, 2025.

Lauren Krugel, The Canadian Press