Winnipeg, MB - Along Canada's coasts and inland from the Great Lakes to the Prairie provinces, federally-owned small craft harbours provide the commercial fishing industry with safer access to waterways. Small craft harbours are the heart of Canada's coastal communities. They are places of gathering, hubs of recreation and industry, and they're essential to Canada's growing blue economy.
Today the Honourable Joyce Murray, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, announced the awarding of the contract for the construction of a new small craft harbour at the Hollow Water First Nation located on the east side of Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba.
The Procurement Strategy for Indigenous Business (PSIB) supports Indigenous businesses with procurement opportunities. Following a competitive process specifically targeting Indigenous businesses under the PSIB, the contract for the construction of the Hollow Water First Nation small craft harbour has been awarded to Zhemaak Inc. of Berens River, Manitoba. The contract is valued at $1.3 million dollars.
The Hollow Water small craft harbour will feature a new timber crib wharf, two floating docks with gangways, and a pre-cast concrete launch ramp. Construction is scheduled to begin this Fall. The harbour is scheduled to be operational by March 2023. It will be managed by a newly created Harbour Authority comprised of five volunteers from the community who will manage the day-to-day operations of the harbour site. The Harbour Authority will serve its membership of commercial fishers and work closely with the Small Craft Harbours program at Fisheries and Oceans Canada in the management and operation of the site.
