About the Port of Churchill
Coordinates: 58.766, -94.166
The Port of Churchill was opened in 1931 and has played an important role in the development of Canada’s north. Most recently the Port’s export business has been dominated by the shipment of grain. However there is a renewed effort to diversify the Ports business. With the increase in land transportation rates, the increased economic activity in the north and changing dynamics in the international bulk commodity markets, Churchill is ideally positioned to capture new business.
The Port, until 1997, was owned by the Government of Canada through a crown corporation called Ports Canada. In 1997 the Canadian government was divesting its interest in many crown corporations and sold the Port. During this time the government also privatized Canadian National Rail. Up to that point, CN was the rail operator to the Port. Concurrent with CN’s privatization the former crown corporation sold the rail line from Churchill to The Pas, Manitoba to Denver based OmniTRAX Inc., the current owner of the Port facilities and the Hudson Bay Railway.
The railway to the Port of Churchill links with main and secondary lines in North America providing access to a region with a population of 100 million consumers. Manitoba has been known as the hub of transportation linking eastern, western and northern Canada. Manitoba is at the heart of the continent, midway between Montreal and Vancouver, Mexico City and Nunavut. All traffic going east-west or north-south typically funnels through Manitoba. Recognizing this potential trade movement, Manitoba has been actively involved in the development of the Mid-Continent Trade Corridor which links Manitoba with eleven US states. North-South trade is a natural extension of product movement through Churchill.
