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CTV News
5 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
Manitoba, Saskatchewan invest in Churchill port as trade war drags on
The Port of Churchill, nestled along the shores of Hudson Bay in northern Manitoba, has become an important piece of the puzzle as the Canada-U.S. trade war rages on. Expanding operations in Churchill has taken on new urgency and has been part of the national discussion over the last few months. 'We're building trade-enabling infrastructure for the future,' said Chris Avery, president and CEO of Arctic Gateway Group, which owns and operates the Port of Churchill. The port is currently Canada's only Arctic seaport serviced by rail, offering access to Europe and destinations around the world. 'Building this trade-enabling infrastructure will further enable the vast resources we have in Western Canada (to reach) global markets,' said Avery. The Port of Churchill has a brief operating window each summer —about four and a half months — due to ice in Hudson Bay. However, Avery says a University of Manitoba study shows the port could remain open longer due to climate change. 'Given their study and given the data they've collected for the past 40 years, the sea lanes can probably be open right now, without icebreaker, up to six months of the year,' he said. 'Beyond that - icebreakers can help us lengthen the shipping season to almost year-round.' Last week, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew and Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe signed an agreement with Arctic Gateway Group to upgrade infrastructure and modernize supply chains. Saskatchewan will connect producers and exporters to the Arctic trade corridor, and Arctic Gateway Group will be expanding investment in port and rail assets. Churchill Port Port of Churchill workers support arrival of Arctic Supply Ship. (Arctic Gateway Group) Kinew said the deal between the two Prairie provinces is a positive step. 'It's really exciting for Manitoba,' he said. 'It helps us to unlock mining in the North, and more agricultural exports in the South.' In recent years, the federal and provincial governments have invested millions of dollars in both the rail line and the Port in Churchill to build up a proper trade route through the Arctic. In March, Ottawa and the Manitoba government committed nearly $80 million to finish work on the Hudson Bay Railway and continue redevelopment of the Port of Churchill. Premier Kinew at the time said the project would help with long-term economic security. 'The memorandum of understanding is a good reinforcement of what we have been thinking for some time,' said Barry Prentice, a professor of supply chain management at the University of Manitoba. The Port of Churchill has mainly been used for grain shipments in the past but began shipping critical minerals in 2024. Prentice says there is a lot of economic opportunity, not just for Manitoba, but also for Saskatchewan and Alberta to move products through the Hudson Bay. 'You want to move bulk products, especially those that are somewhat storable, and potash fits in that category, minerals, petrochemicals, and lumber too, because they do produce forest products as well,' he said. 'There are lots of things we can move through the port, in addition to grain.' Avery echoed Prentice's statement. 'We expect to have more products that originate from Saskatchewan, come through the Port of Churchill and be exported to global markets as well,' he said. 'So, we'll see that volume grow as we work together and build that traffic, and we'll see the volumes grow, and we'll see different types of commodities go through the port.' All the talk about breathing new life into the Artic comes as welcome news for those living in the North. Port of Churchill Arctic Supply Ship is seen here at Port of Churchill on July 14, 2025. (Arctic Gateway Group) 'It goes to show how much potential our area on Hudson Bay has for shipping, for contributing to Canada's GDP as a whole,' said Joe Stover, a longtime Churchill resident. 'It's good for the country, because it's obviously another outlet for being able to ship — and helps with some of these bottlenecks that you see logistically across the country.' Stover worked at the port for 10 years. While he's happy to see investment and renewed interest in revitalizing the port, he hopes words turn into action. 'Let's just hope that the pressure stays on and things actually get done,' he said. 'We hear lots, in the past — 'Oh, Churchill, it would be great if we could do this. Churchill, Churchill, Churchill. Potential, potential, potential.' Let's just really hope that now this is a dollars-to-donuts, boots-on-the-ground, actual work going to get done.' As for Avery, he said results will start to show in the short term — but the real focus is on building the future. 'We are definitely focused on the medium and long term as well,' he said. 'And building this trade-enabling structure — which will then build more trade and opportunities to export our resources and commodities to global markets.'
Yahoo
23-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Saskatchewan premier signs two MOUs to open up interprovincial trade routes
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe has been on an MOU-signing spree, inking two new agreements intended to improve interprovincial trade. While participating in the Council of the Federation (COF) summer meeting in Huntsville, Ont. on Tuesday, Moe signed an MOU with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Ontario Premier Doug Ford. The premiers committed to working collaboratively on internal projects to transport oil, natural gas and critical minerals and make Canada less reliant on its southern neighbour. A renewed push for improved provincial trade was spurred in part by Prime Minister Mark Carney as well as the reality of U.S. tariffs imposed on Canada while other threats, such as annexation, are lobbed occasionally at Canada by President Donald Trump and members of his administration. 'All of our exporting industries have faced far too many bottlenecks in not only their production, but in limiting our ability to provide those products to nations around the world,' Moe said. Similarly, the MOU signed by Moe, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew and the Arctic Gateway Group, also on Tuesday, aims to strengthen trade by streamlining access to and developing transportation corridors, specifically the Port of Churchill. MOUs — memorandums of understanding — typically outline the terms of agreements between parties. While they are usually non-binding, they can set the stage for future frameworks. Pipeline push The Saskatchewan-Alberta-Ontario MOU promotes shared infrastructure to get western oil and gas to new to refineries in southern Ontario and northern tidewater to the deep sea port in James Bay. 'I've said that I'm supportive of pipelines north, east and west. I'd like to see all of them built,' said Smith. 'Clearly, for opening up new markets our best opportunity is to build a pipeline to the northwest B.C. coast in order to access the Asian markets. But it should give us pause that we in Eastern Canada are overly reliant on oil that either has to come by way of the United States or has to be shipped in from overseas.' With that comes a unified stance on reversing Bill C-69 — Ottawa's impact-assessment law mandating several forms of assessment before a resource or infrastructure project gets approved — as well as removing the oil and gas emissions cap, tanker ban, and net-zero vehicle and electricity mandates. The Saskatchewan government said in a press release that the MOU will 'explore multiple pipeline and rail corridors, and expansion of processing hubs for critical minerals,' across the signatory provinces. More MOUs The Saskatchewan-Manitoba-Arctic Gateway Group MOU will 'unlock new opportunities for businesses in Manitoba and Saskatchewan to get their goods to market,' Kinew is quoted as saying in a Saskatchewan government press release. The agreement seeks to connect producers, processors and industries in the two provinces to the Arctic Trade Corridor through the Port of Churchill and emphasizes the need to secure federal funding and regulatory support 'to improve connectivity,' according to the release. On Monday, Moe signed a separate MOU with Kinew to move forward on a framework for direct-to-consumer alcohol sales. In the press release, the Government of Saskatchewan said 'improving labour mobility and trade are at the heart of this MOU.' Moe has said an MOU is 'an intentional document,' as he pushed provinces to sign onto the New West Partnership Trade Agreement (NWPTA). 'This is actually a binding trade agreement,' said Moe of the NWPTA. Moe also recently signed trade-related MOUs with Prince Edward Island and Ontario. –with files from Cindy Tran Related Saskatchewan's Scott Moe invites all Canadian premiers to join western trade agreement With an eye to Saskatchewan's growing debt, expert sees 'stormy weather ahead' Saskatchewan premier discusses Liberal policy concerns, won't talk Western separation as federal election looms alsalloum@ The Regina Leader-Post has created an Afternoon Headlines newsletter that can be delivered daily to your inbox so you are up to date with the most vital news of the day. Click here to subscribe. With some online platforms blocking access to the journalism upon which you depend, our website is your destination for up-to-the-minute news, so make sure to bookmark and sign up for our newsletters so we can keep you informed. Click here to subscribe.
Winnipeg Free Press
23-07-2025
- Business
- Winnipeg Free Press
Manitoba signs deal with Saskatchewan to bolster trade through Port of Churchill
Manitoba's experience as a leader in reconciliation will give it a leg up when it comes time for Canada to fast-track megaprojects, Premier Wab Kinew said Tuesday after signing an agreement with Saskatchewan to expand trade through the Port of Churchill. 'We're working a ton on making sure we have consensus with the Indigenous nations for the megaprojects that we want to pursue to build up the Manitoba and Canadian economy,' Kinew said. Twenty-nine First Nations and 12 northern communities own the Arctic Gateway Group, which operates the Port of Churchill and the Hudson Bay Railway that connects it to the rest of the continent. Nathan Denette / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew, left, talks with Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe at the meeting of Canada's premiers in Huntsville, Ont., Monday. 'This ability to get to tidewater and seemingly having the ability to open that up, maybe, year-round because of newer ships that we have access to today, is really exciting for Manitoba,' Kinew told reporters via a Zoom call from Huntsville, Ont. There, Canada's first ministers are gathering to discuss a strategy to respond to the trade war launched by U.S. President Donald Trump. The memorandum of understanding Kinew signed with Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe on Tuesday says the Arctic Gateway Group will invest in port and rail assets and lengthen the shipping season, which typically runs from July to November, to support increased freight capacity. Chris Avery, the chief executive officer of AGG, said they're working with the University of Manitoba and other academic and private-sector groups to update data about the shipping season, which has been getting longer over time. 'What the University of Manitoba tells us is that based on their data from over the past 40 years and what they see in their studies of the sea ice — they expect that the shipping seasons can be lengthened already without icebreakers or anything else, given climate change.' He said U of M is gathering and studying the data, which can be shared with shippers and insurance companies, he said. 'One of the impediments to extending the shipping season is because they're working off of old historical data of the shipping season and the ice patterns and so on.' New data from the U of M indicates the shipping season will be lengthened to as much as six months without the use of icebreakers, Avery said. In February, Manitoba announced $36.4 million would be given to AGG over two years for capital infrastructure projects at the port. The memo of understanding says the province will try to secure federal infrastructure funding and regulatory support to improve connectivity to northern markets, a news release said. 'When we're talking about nation-building, if we help Alberta, Saskatchewan, our other neighbors and fellow provinces and territories access the European Union, that can be really good for all of us.'–Wab Kinew The five-year plan requires Saskatchewan to 'mobilize' commodity producers and exporters through its trade offices and regional industry partners, the release said. Streamlining access to ports such as Churchill will allow for greater access to international markets, Moe said in the release. 'It helps us to unlock mining in the north, more agricultural exports in the south, manufacturing products right across our whole province,' Kinew told reporters Tuesday. 'When we're talking about nation-building, if we help Alberta, Saskatchewan, our other neighbors and fellow provinces and territories access the European Union, that can be really good for all of us.' On Tuesday, Manitoba did not sign an MOU with Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta to use Ontario steel to build an oil and gas pipeline and a port on James Bay as part of a national energy corridor. Manitoba Progressive Conservative Leader Obby Khan said Manitoba 'missed out on a much, much larger opportunity.' 'Why wouldn't you negotiate on the ground floor for a project that could bring massive economic opportunities and prosperity to the province?' Khan asked. Kinew said he's had 'excellent meetings' with the three premiers involved and that he didn't sign their MOU because Manitoba doesn't have the needed consensus from its Indigenous nations to do so. 'Our approach in Manitoba involves extensive leg work with Indigenous nations at the front end of the project process,' Manitoba's first First Nations premier said. 'I believe spending that time to build consensus and then to invest the energy necessary to maintain that consensus throughout the construction phase of a project, will actually see us get to the finish line as quickly or quicker than everyone else.' Dylan Robertson / Free Press Files Twenty-nine First Nations and 12 northern communities own the Arctic Gateway Group, which operates the Port of Churchill and the Hudson Bay Railway that connects it to the rest of the continent. Kinew said the province hasn't announced a new megaproject proposal yet. 'This is work that we're undertaking carefully, strategically and quietly behind the scenes,' the premier said. 'We would love to have the federal government as an enthusiastic partner (but)…the partners that we need are the collective Indigenous nations of Manitoba that are represented by governments.' Kinew said he doesn't want Manitoba to be pitted against other provinces, but noted that Churchill has the advantage over James Bay because it is a long-running northern, deep-water port with infrastructure and Indigenous partners. A supply chain expert who teaches at the U of M Asper School of Business said the proposals for a major port at the far south end of James Bay in Ontario centre on the community of Moosonee, that has port facilities for barges, but not ships that require deep water. Like Churchill, it has rail access but no road, said Robert Parsons. The proposal to develop the James Bay port into an energy corridor 'is really more on the wish-list side,' he said. Parsons compared it to NeeStanNan's proposal to develop a liquefied natural gas terminal at Port Nelson on Hudson Bay in Manitoba. 'Both will require quite a bit of work.' The chief of one of the First Nations behind the Port Nelson LNG proposal welcomed Manitoba's agreement with Saskatchewan to bolster the Port of Churchill. Weekday Mornings A quick glance at the news for the upcoming day. 'Churchill has always been there and we support Churchill and we're also part owners of the railway,' said Clarence Easter of Chemawawin Cree Nation, one of 10 First Nations behind the NeeStaNan energy corridor. NeeStaNan has been licensed by the federal energy regulator to explore the development of exporting liquefied natural gas. Easter said he supports federal legislation to fast-track infrastructure projects such as energy corridors. 'We cannot keep doing things that we've been doing in the past because it hasn't worked before… We can't keep counting on federal handouts, provincial handouts to survive and keep living the way we've been living,' the chief said. 'The opportunity is there for us to step up.' Carol SandersLegislature reporter Carol Sanders is a reporter at the Free Press legislature bureau. The former general assignment reporter and copy editor joined the paper in 1997. Read more about Carol. Every piece of reporting Carol produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
CBC
23-07-2025
- Business
- CBC
Manitoba signs agreements with 4 provinces to improve trade and labour mobility
The Manitoba government has signed agreements with four other Canadian provinces to loosen trade barriers and increase labour mobility from coast to coast. Premier Wab Kinew said the province has signed four separate memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with Saskatchewan, British Columbia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island during the Council of the Federation meeting in Huntsville, Ont. The agreements outline a shared commitment to remove internal trade barriers between Manitoba and each province, while ensuring workers' credentials are recognized across the provinces to increase job mobility. They also include a promise to expand direct-to-consumer alcohol sales from Manitoba producers in each of the four provinces. "It feels good as a Canadian to see that the leaders from all regions and at the highest level are working together. It feels good as a premier to know that we're walking in lockstep with our colleagues," Kinew said during a virtual press conference Tuesday. Manitoba also signed a separate memorandum of understanding with Saskatchewan and Arctic Gateway Group to expand Arctic trade via the Port of Churchill. Kinew told reporters that he also had a productive meeting with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, where they discussed shared economic priorities. "We're definitely all on the same page in terms of definitely wanting to build up Canada and build up our economy," he said, calling the meetings in Huntsville "Team Canada's huddle" before the Aug. 1 deadline to reach a trade deal with the U.S. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Mark Carney said his government "will not accept a bad deal" and is working toward a trade agreement that's "in the best interest of Canadians." Kinew told CBC's David Cochrane on Power and Politics Tuesday afternoon that Canadians should remain patient as provincial and federal leaders work to build local economies and try to secure a deal with an often-volatile trading partner to the south. "Given the way the Trump administration has continuously moved the goalposts, has continuously put different issues on the table, taking them off, I think we should maybe just let go of the Aug. 1 deadline as a fixation. And the fixation that we should have is a good deal," he said. On Tuesday, the premiers of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario also signed memorandums of understanding to build new pipelines, railroads and energy infrastructure to move oil, gas and critical minerals between the provinces. Manitoba did not sign the agreement. Kinew said Manitoba's major infrastructure projects must first have a consensus from Indigenous stakeholders before putting shovels in the ground. The Council of the Federation meeting continues in Huntsville on Wednesday.
Yahoo
22-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Manitoba and Saskatchewan sign agreement to boost trade corridor through the Arctic
HUNTSVILLE, ONT. — Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew was hopeful after meeting Tuesday with the prime minister and other premiers about the potential for a large Arctic trade corridor through the Port of Churchill on Hudson Bay. But some provinces are also supporting a trade route through a port on James Bay in northern Ontario that would also serve the Arctic. The two megaprojects are among many being pitched as part of a national effort to diversify trade and protect the Canadian economy from U.S. tariffs. The governments of Manitoba and Saskatchewan signed a memorandum to expand trade through Churchill in a five-year deal that also includes Arctic Gateway Group, which owns the port and the northern rail line that leads to it. Material shipped through the port can reach Europe and other destinations. The company has agreed to expand freight capacity and lengthen the shipping season, which is currently severely limited by ice. Saskatchewan has committed to mobilizing commodity producers and exporters through its trade offices. And Manitoba will lead efforts to secure federal infrastructure funding and regulatory support. Kinew, who has said the trade corridor could also include a pipeline for energy from the west and a transmission line to move Manitoba hydroelectricity in the other direction, told reporters Tuesday the project could go ahead without federal financial support. "We would absolutely love to have the federal government as an enthusiastic partner. I think they will be very, very supportive of the megaproject we're seeking to build," Kinew said. "But the partners that we need are the collective Indigenous nations in Manitoba." The Ontario government, meanwhile, signed a memorandum with Alberta and Saskatchewan that calls for new rail lines to be built to help ship critical minerals from yet-to-be-approved mines in the Ring of Fire to Western Canada. Ontario Premier Doug Ford said the agreement focuses on shipping western oil to refineries in southern Ontario and a new deep-sea port in James Bay. Kinew said he didn't want to pit his province against another. But he said the Manitoba project has advantages: an existing port, Indigenous participation through the owners of the existing port and railway, and consultations on possible expansions. "It just so happens that our approach in Manitoba involves extensive legwork with the Indigenous nations at the front end of the project process." — By Steve Lambert in Winnipeg This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 22, 2025. The Canadian Press Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
