NDP includes $10M for ‘unlocking opportunities’ in Manitoba’s North
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The Manitoba government plans to to spark business investment in Churchill and drum up interest in an energy corridor via a $10-million fund.
“It’s about unlocking opportunities,” Finance Minister Adrien Sala said Tuesday, when the NDP government released its 2026-27 budget.
“We know that Churchill, the trade corridor, is a significant opportunity for Manitoba. (It’s) a massive economic growth opportunity that could transform our North.”
MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS
“It really signifies that it’s critically important to invest in the North,” said Churchill Mayor Mike Spence.
Details on the Port of Churchill Plus Catalyst Fund are being determined, Sala added. The fund may be used to create infrastructure for energy exports.
Premier Wab Kinew has mused about shipping liquified natural gas, electricity and hydrogen through the port.
Port owner Arctic Gateway Group is working with Ottawa’s Major Projects Office to study how such shipments could leave the site.
The $10 million is on top of a five-year, $262.5-million joint commitment from the federal and provincial governments. That funding is slated to be used for foundational infrastructure, including port renovations and Hudson Bay Railway maintenance.
Churchill Mayor Mike Spence welcomed the Budget 2026 highlights.
“It’s good news,” he said, referring to the catalyst fund. “It really signifies that it’s critically important to invest in the North.”
Arctic Gateway Group has trekked to Europe at least three times over the past months to market the port, Spence said.
Arctic Gateway recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the Port of Antwerp-Bruges, one of Europe’s largest. The two groups pledged to work together on trade.
Similar deals with Nunavut Sealink and Supply and Fednav, Canada’s largest international dry bulk shipping company, have been inked.
Still, there’s “more work that needs to be done” to build up the northern port, which links to Hudson Bay, Spence noted.
Rotting timber has plagued the wharf face; sink holes must be repaired on the wharf deck. Arctic Gateway Group’s president estimated, in January, that basic infrastructure upgrades would take another year or two.
Further upgrades are needed if leadership plans to export energy.
“They talk of Churchill as if it’s happening tomorrow,” Tory Leader Obby Khan said of the port expansion, adding it could take 20 years to transpire.
“The federal government has not made this a priority on their major projects (list), yet the premier talks like this is happening tomorrow.”
The catalyst fund drew ire from Laura Cameron, Climate Action Team Manitoba’s director of programs and strategy.
“We’re quite concerned about discussion around expanding the Port of Churchill — particularly (liquified natural gas) investments and wanting to attract investment to expand LNG supports,” she said.
“The government should put safeguards in place to ensure that that doesn’t become a fossil-fuel subsidy.”
Manitobans can expect shipments leaving Churchill’s port later this year, Spence said without divulging details.
Zinc concentrate has flowed through the hub over the past two years.
Meantime, Fednav is studying the possibility of shipping year-round through the port. University of Manitoba research suggests the port will be free of ice year-round by the end of this century, Budget 2026 states.
The province and federal governments are jointly funding an Arctic Research Foundation study looking at using icebreakers, ice tugs and research vessels at the northern port.
Budget 2026 also contains $450,000 for CentrePort Canada funding. The trimodal port signed a memorandum of understanding to work collaboratively with Arctic Gateway Group and the Winnipeg Airports Authority earlier this year.
— With files from Carol Sanders
gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com
Gabrielle Piché reports on business for the Free Press. She interned at the Free Press and worked for its sister outlet, Canstar Community News, before entering the business beat in 2021. Read more about Gabrielle.
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