Governments invest in Canada’s deep-water Arctic seaport

The federal government and provincial government of Manitoba have announced they will jointly invest $2.2 million to ensure the future of the Port of Churchill and the Hudson Bay Railway.
The Port of Churchill on the western side of Hudson Bay is Canada’s only deep-water Arctic seaport. The federal-provincial arrangement will target $1.8 million for infrastructure improvements to the port and railway. Both the railway and the port are owned by OmniTRAX.
The rest of the federal and provincial money will be spent on a marketing effort to increase traffic in the port and to diversify the type of goods it handles. Last year the port suffered as an indirect result of the Prairies drought. Due to low yields, less grain was exported and Churchill handled only 270,000 tonnes of grain compared to 478,000 in 2001, and 711,000 in 2000. Grain accounts for more than 90% of the port’s volumes.