The Government of Canada supports infrastructure projects that create quality, middle-class jobs and boost economic growth. Enhancing the northern transportation system supports and promotes economic growth and social development, offers job opportunities, ensures greater connectivity for Northerners, increases its resilience to a changing climate, and ensures that it can adapt to innovative technologies.
Today, Michael McLeod, Member of Parliament for the Northwest Territories, on behalf of the Honourable Marc Garneau, Minister of Transport, announced a major investment of $30 million for environmental planning and studies supporting the Slave Geological Province Corridor in the Northwest Territories.
Construction of all-season infrastructure to the Slave Geological Province Corridor has the potential to bring major economic development opportunities by reducing the costs of operating existing mines and future resource exploration and development activities. An all-weather corridor will be more resilient to the impacts of climate change, providing a safer and more reliable means of transportation.
The funding announced today will support the following work:
- environmental and regulatory reviews for a road from Highway 4 to Lockhart Lake;
- planning road design and alignment from Highway 4 to the Nunavut Border; and
- planning studies for the Slave Geological Province Corridor to make this project shovel-ready.
This investment, from the Government of Canada's National Trade Corridors Fund, is expected to have important economic and employment benefits for the region by creating an estimated 400 jobs during the study.
Projects in the North receiving funding are supporting transportation infrastructure such as ports, airports, all-season roads and bridges, and enhance safety, security, and economic and social development in Canada's three territories.
The projects are also addressing the unique and urgent transportation needs in Canada's territorial North, such as access to markets, economic opportunities, communities and essential services, despite difficult terrain and severe climate conditions and the high cost of construction along Canada's northern trade corridors.
Territorial and municipal governments, Indigenous groups, not-for-profit and for-profit private-sector organizations, and federal Crown Corporations and Agencies are all eligible for funding under the National Trade Corridors Fund.
Quotes
"Canada continues to support northern transportation infrastructure. From the significant investments we have already made in the Mackenzie Valley Highway, to this current funding for the Government of the Northwest Territories priority of advancing the Slave Geological Province Infrastructure Corridor, our Government has demonstrated a clear commitment to the North."
Michael McLeod
Member of Parliament for the Northwest Territories
"Transportation is a lifeline for Northern communities and for economic development in Canada's Arctic. By finding ways to make our infrastructure more resilient, we are improving transportation safety and reliability. The Government of Canada is pleased to support these important initiatives."
The Honourable Marc Garneau
Minister of Transport
Quick facts
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All-season highways and winter ice roads in the North handle more than one million tonnes of freight traffic each year. This project will complete preparatory work necessary for construction of a major new, all-season road that would connect communities and economic development sites in the Northwest Territories.
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Infrastructure development is more costly in the territorial North than in southern Canada due to severe climate, difficult terrain, vast distances, limited access to materials and expertise, and a much shorter construction season.
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To improve and expand infrastructure in the northern regions of Canada, Budget 2019 increased the allocation of the National Trade Corridors Fund to Arctic and northern regions by up to $400 million over eight years, starting in 2020-21, bringing the total allocation to these regions to $800 million.
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Through the Investing in Canada infrastructure plan, the Government of Canada is investing more than $180 billion over 12 years in public transit projects, green infrastructure, social infrastructure, trade and transportation routes, and Canada's rural and northern communities.
