Arctic Gateway Group (AGG) has partnered with Canadian shipping company Fednav to examine the operational requirements that would be necessary to support year-round shipping from the Port of Churchill.
The work for this review is underway and is expected to be completed this summer.
Fednav’s work with AGG will focus on understanding the practical operational considerations of navigating ice-covered waters in Hudson Bay. This work is intended to inform Arctic Gateway’s long-term business planning, and does not pre-empt environmental assessments, regulatory processes, or Indigenous decision-making. The work will examine known ice conditions, patterns, extended shipping seasons, and the efforts and investments required.
Any future consideration of year-round shipping or icebreaking would require extensive engagement with Indigenous partners, northern communities, governments, and environmental stakeholders.
“As we continue to grow AGG’s business at the Port of Churchill, we need to understand what would be required to support year-round shipping from an operational standpoint. This is about business planning, and it’s one piece of a broader set of work being advanced in Hudson Bay. We’re doing this with full recognition that all future paths involve extensive consultation, regulatory review, and alignment with Indigenous partners, communities, governments, and industry,” said Chris Avery, President & CEO, AGG.
The expansion of trade corridors and investments in Western Hudson Bay is currently the subject of extensive, multi-party research and planning. This includes work led by the Arctic Research Foundation in collaboration with provincial and federal partners examining shipping routes, environmental considerations, marine conservation, and governance, as well as a feasibility initiative exploring a potential national marine conservation area led by Parks Canada.
AGG’s work with Fednav is complementary to these broader initiatives.
Fednav will draw on decades of Arctic operating experience, including Arctic-certified captains and in-house ice specialists, to assess historical ice conditions, navigation constraints, and operational requirements specific to Hudson Bay and the marine approaches to Churchill.
