Letter of intent puts fertilizer shipments on Port of Churchill calendar

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This article was published 07/03/2025 (249 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Saskatchewan company aiming to localize fertilizer creation has a new partner: the group spearheading the Port of Churchill’s revitalization.

“Churchill is tariff-free,” said Jason Mann, president of Genesis Fertilizers Limited Partnership.

He slipped on a celebratory tuque — notoriously Canadian — as he signed a letter of intent with Arctic Gateway Group’s chief executive in the company’s Winnipeg office.

Arctic Gateway has spent years renovating the Hudson Bay Railway, which connects The Pas to Churchill. It’s currently restoring the port’s wharf, which has faced years of decay.

Eventually, Genesis Fertilizers hopes to ship phosphate and other materials into the northern Manitoba port. If all goes to plan, it’ll send its nitrogen fertilizer on departing vessels.

“Why can’t we produce nitrogen fertilizer in Western Canada and send it up through Churchill to Europe?” Mann asked.

He’s looking years ahead. For now, Genesis Fertilizers has struck a working group with Arctic Gateway; they’ll parse through logistics details.

The Saskatoon-based company intends to build a $2.3-billion nitrogen fertilizer plant in Belle Plaine, Sask. Operations should begin in 2029, per the current timeline.

Farmers buy into Genesis Fertilizers; currently, the company is raising farm equity capital, Mann said.

Once operational, the plant — designed to produce one million tonnes of fertilizer annually — would need about 300,000 tonnes of phosphate during the same timeframe, Mann estimated.

But shipping phosphate through the Port of Churchill could begin soon, he continued. Genesis could sell incoming phosphate, a key component of fertilizer, to investors.

“Churchill is critical infrastructure, and we need to use that port more,” Mann said.

He outlined a typical phosphate pathway: it might travel from northern Africa to New Orleans, reaching the Mississippi River before hitting rail lines to Canada. “I see lots of issues with that long term,” Mann said.

There’s the now-constant question of tariffs. The Mississippi River has suffered low water levels due to drought.

Genesis Fertilizers would’ve tapped into the Port of Churchill regardless of American politics, but the current geopolitical climate emphasizes the partnership’s importance, Mann added.

“We don’t have the stability we thought we had in trade,” he said. “I think everybody’s looking for solutions on ‘How do we … have more control over our supply chain?’”

Chris Avery, chief executive of Arctic Gateway Group, echoed the sentiment: “This is really an intersection of exactly what we need to do in the environment we’re in today.”

Genesis Fertilizers is still determining where to book shipments of phosphate and other materials necessary for its products. The Persian Gulf produces a lot of phosphate, Mann noted.

The United States sells phosphate, but it can’t be relied upon for now, Avery added.

Grain regularly shipped through the Port of Churchill before the Canadian Wheat Board was dismantled in 2012.

Arctic Gateway Group began its oversight of the northern port and railway in 2018.

Forty-one First Nations and Bayline communities make up the organization.

The trade route has seen increased use over the past couple years. In 2024, 10,000 tonnes of zinc concentrate left the port; it was the first critical minerals shipment in at least two decades.

This year, the minerals shipment hitting the water will double in size, Arctic Gateway has announced. It plans to triple the port’s storage capacity.

The change follows years of government investment. Most recently, in February, Ottawa and Manitoba jointly announced nearly $80 million for infrastructure updates.

“The railway is in great condition, the port is operational,” Avery said.

Arctic Gateway will look at storage space in Churchill and along northern Manitoba rail lines going forward, he added.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com