The Arctic Economic and Security Corridor is one 10 major “nation-building projects” highlighted in last Tuesday’s federal budget. Source: West Kitikmeot Resources Corp.
Nunavut residents could learn as early as Thursday whether a major Arctic infrastructure project will get federal government backing. For months, the federal government has been highlighting what it calls nation-building projects of national interest.
Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the first five of those projects that will be recommended for fast-track approval as well as the creation of the Major Projects Office which will review project proposals for approval, back in August.
At that time, Carney said five more projects would be announced “before the Grey Cup,” the Canadian Football League championship game which is scheduled for Sunday in Winnipeg.
At a news conference Monday in Fredericton, N.B, Carney said the next round of major projects will be revealed Thursday in Prince Rupert, B.C.
The 2025-26 federal budget, released Nov. 4, included the previously announced first five projects but without funding amounts. None involving Nunavut were on the list.
The budget also listed a second group of five projects it said were “at an earlier stage and require further development.”
One of them—the Arctic Economic and Security Corridor—is described in the budget as “a set of all-weather, dual-use, land and port-to-port-to-port infrastructure projects that will contribute to Canada’s defence and northern development.”
The security corridor would support development of critical minerals projects and connect communities to the rest of Canada while increasing the capabilities and reach of the Canadian Armed Forces.
The project would link Nunavut to southern Canada via a road for the first time, with its terminus in Edmonton, Alta. Part of the Arctic Economic and Security Corridor is the Grays Bay Road and Port project, according to the website of corridor proponent West Kitikmeot Resources Corp.
The road and port project, proposed in 2016, is a 230-kilometre all-season road and deepsea port in Kitikmeot Region which would open vast areas for mining exploration and development.
Nunavut Premier P.J. Akeeagok has been a longtime proponent of the project recently stating he was “optimistic” about the project even though it had been left off Carney’s initial group of five projects announced in September.
Federal officials did not respond to a request for comment Monday.
The other projects listed among the second group of five in the budget are an Alberta carbon-capture storage network and pipeline; upgrade to the port of Churchill, Man; a high-speed railway to connect Toronto and Quebec City; and a renewable energy and wind project in Nova Scotia.
Source: Nunatsiaq News
Further reading:
- Arctic Economic & Security Corridor / arccorridor.ca
- Arctic Economic & Security Corridor (AESC) / Government of Northwest Territories