Ignored until very recently

March 18, 2024

While long overlooked as a port from which to export grain, proponents of the facility will point out that for a chunk of the Canadian grain-growing land base, Churchill is the shortest overland access to water. The problem, however, is that Hudson Bay on which the port sits is covered by ice for months each year, and that shortens the possible export season. As a result, the port has had a very up-and-down history.

It was built in the late 1920s by the federal government of the day and began exporting grain shipments in 1931, following a six-year project to build the railway to connect Hudson Bay to other points in the country. The first ship to import cargo through the port was the British freighter Pennyworth in 1932, according to Wikipedia.