Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew traveled to Nunavut in early August 2026 to build support for the Port of Churchill Plus project, a multi-billion dollar plan to turn the northern Manitoba town into a year-round Arctic trade hub. In a social media post on August 7, Premier Kinew shared photos from the visit and said, “We went to Nunavut to build support for Churchill.”
The Churchill Plus project, listed as a transformative strategy by the federal Major Projects Office in September 2025, aims to upgrade the port and expand trade corridors with an all-weather road, an upgraded rail line, a new energy corridor, and marine ice-breaking capacity. The plan prioritizes Indigenous equity ownership through the Arctic Gateway Group, an Indigenous-led consortium of 41 First Nations and northern community shareholders that currently owns the Port of Churchill and Hudson Bay Railway.
This trip follows a renewed partnership between Manitoba and Nunavut. On July 7, 2026, Premier Kinew met with Nunavut Premier John Main in Arviat, where the two leaders signed a memorandum of understanding to work together on infrastructure, economic development, and Indigenous-led initiatives. One key project under this agreement is the proposed Kivalliq Hydro-Fibre Link, a $3.3-billion, 1,200-kilometre transmission line that would connect Manitoba’s hydroelectric grid to five Nunavut communities, delivering renewable electricity and high-speed fibre-optic internet.
More than $262.5 million has been committed so far for Churchill Plus, including $175 million from the federal government and $87.5 million from Manitoba. Premier Kinew has also been in talks with a major Canadian energy company about potentially shipping oil and liquefied natural gas through Churchill, announcing plans in January 2026 to sign a non-disclosure agreement to allow confidential discussions. The project has gained momentum under Prime Minister Mark Carney, with quarterly meetings between the premier and the prime minister and a “one project, one review” collaboration agreement signed on April 14, 2026, to speed up regulatory approvals.
