Transportation: Seaport at Churchill, Manitoba

• The only deep-water ocean port in the prairie region

• Shipping season - July – November

• 4 deep-sea berths for the loading and unloading of grain, general cargo and tanker vessels. 

• Able to accommodate Panamax class vessels (approx. 70,000 tonne capacity)

• Rail access by Hudson Bay Railway and CN Rail to most North American points

• Throughput capacity - over 1 million tonnes of grain per season

• Grain - 90% of Port’s current traffic

The port of Churchill provides Manitoba with a unique distinction among the Prairie provinces - direct access to the sea. Churchill provides the Prairie provinces with a much shorter route to European markets than by the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River ports.

Churchill can be reached by rail, air and sea. The rail line was built primarily to link western wheat lands to the port, but it has also proven to be an invaluable transportation artery for northern Manitoba and the Central Arctic region. The line has been upgraded to 263,000 lbs., the same as all main line track.

Located at the Port is a 140,000-tonne elevator, with the ability to unload over 100 rail cars per day and load over 1,200 MT per hour into vessels. The terminal also can efficiently clean, store, and grade grain to Canadian Grain Commission standards.  The Port also has a 50 million litre petroleum terminal and an 82,000 square-foot indoor storage facility, plus ample outdoor storage space.

Two airlines provide daily service from Winnipeg to Churchill: Calm Air (7 days per week) and Kivalliq Air (Sunday to Friday).

Inbound freight to Churchill can also be brought by sea. Churchill is 2,575 nautical miles from Halifax, 2,850 nautical miles from Montreal, and only 3,380 nautical miles from Liverpool.

Manitoba is well serviced by intermodal marine container transportation services. CN North America and CP Rail provide this service to serve the shipper’s distribution requirements. CP and CN intermodal services connect most of the Canada’s leading ports - Saint John, Quebec City, Montreal, Trois Rivieres, Halifax and Vancouver.