Long-Promised Deepsea Port To Be Built In Canada's Arctic

658 words

3 minutes

Long-Promised Deepsea Port To Be Built In Canada's Arctic

2025-11-12

Project idea that has been around since the 1950s might finally come to fruition.

One of the first things a visitor to Qikiqtarjuaq sees when they land at the hamlet’s tiny airport is a map of the deepsea port.

It’s like the long-promised facility is already there to welcome sealift ships, fishing boats and cruises.

“That’s our vision,” said Mary Killiktee, the two-term mayor and out-going MLA for the community who has been a supporter of the port project for many years.

Port construction is expected to begin in summer 2026 and finish by 2029, with operations starting in 2030, said Michael McNair, CEO of Arctic Economic Development Corp., one of the companies working on the project.

The 1 USD-million plan includes a 75-metre wharf, a crane for offloading cargo, security and operations offices and a 275-metre-long access road.

So far the federal government and GN have contributed 53.4 million dollars, with 13.3 million dollars coming from the territorial government and 40.1 million dollars from Ottawa.

The rest of the funding could be “coming together,” McNair said, with the 1 USD-billion Arctic Infrastructure Fund announced in Tuesday’s federal budget, plus “positive” conversations with the Canada Infrastructure Bank.

The Qikiqtarjuaq port recently made the list of “nation-building” projects compiled by Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. and the Nunavut government to tap into the federal government’s plan to assert Arctic sovereignty and security.

Other projects include the Iqaluit hydroelectric project, Kivalliq hydro-fibre link and Grays Bay road and port.

The Qikiqtarjuaq port was the only one of those projects that didn’t have a private sector proponent until September, when Qikiqtaaluk Corp., the business arm of Qikiqtani Inuit Association, took over the lead on it.

McNair said the port will be the first project from the nation-building list to be completed and could be a “quick win” for the territory and Canada.

It’s expected to make Qikiqtarjuaq one of the Eastern Arctic’s main sealift and refuelling hubs and will likely be used by Canadian Coast Guard and Royal Canadian Navy ships, he said.

“The port will boost fishing and bring jobs to the community where the majority of the population of about 600 people is unemployed,” said Geela Kooneeliusie, the hamlet’s senior administrative officer.

She said Qikiqtarjuaq is centrally located in Nunavut’s best fishing areas, is close to Greenland, and has water as deep as 400 metres close to the shoreline, allowing large ships to dock.

Unlike the Grays Bay road that has seen opposition from Kugluktuk’s Hunters and Trappers Organisation over potential environmental hazards, the Qikiqtarjuaq port has support from both the hamlet and local hunters and trappers group, according to a letter submitted by both entities to the Nunavut Impact Review Board.

Also, the community recently became host to the Arctic’s latest research station, operated by Laval University.

For fishing companies, the port is a promising but uncertain prospect, said Glenn Grandy, interim CEO of Baffin Fisheries, which employs about 200 people.

A lot of infrastructure, such as freezers and containers, will be needed in the community “for anybody to land any significant amount of fish,” he said.

The community will also need trained personnel able to support the docking of big and technically complex vessels like the ones Baffin Fisheries uses.

The port will be located above the Arctic Circle and won’t be available year-round. Even in more southern areas of Baffin Bay and Davis Strait, the fishing season lasts from late July to mid-December, when ice starts to push out the ships.

“It’s an expensive project, but you have to have the infrastructure there in order to attract the industry”, said Grandy, adding his company will likely use the port once it opens.

For people in Qikiqtarjuaq, the conversation about the port predates the recent sovereignty push. It even predates Nunavut.

“We have been advocating for decades”, Killiktee said, adding that this time around she’s sure it will go through. “This is our vision for the community, so it has to happen.”

Source: Nunatsiaq News