About 30,000 tonnes of Canadian durum wheat is heading to Europe from the Port of Churchill, marking the first grain export from the northern Manitoba port since 2020.
The shipment, supplied by Saskatchewan-based AGT Foods, was loaded on August 31, 2026. It is the first of three grain vessels expected at Churchill this season as part of a new multi-year partnership between the Arctic Gateway Group and AGT Foods.
Grain shipments out of Churchill were halted after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the last shipment leaving in 2020. The port was previously closed in 2016 by its former owner, Denver-based OmniTRAX, citing declining grain shipments and railway deterioration.
The Arctic Gateway Group is owned by 29 First Nations and 12 northern communities through the OneNorth consortium, giving the port and the Hudson Bay Railway 100 percent Indigenous and community ownership.
Federal Minister Rebecca Chartrand connected the shipment to Canada’s trade diversification strategy amid U.S. trade tensions. “We’re building strength at home, we’re investing in Canadian infrastructure and expanding trade so that our economy is not dependent on any single market,” she said.
The port’s return to grain exports follows recent studies that confirmed year-round shipping from Churchill is technically feasible using existing ice-class vessels. The Governments of Canada and Manitoba have committed a combined $262.5 million over five years to support Hudson Bay Railway operations and port development.
