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
