A ship is loaded with durum at the Port of Churchill (Image Credit: supplied photo/Arctic Gateway Group)

By Pattison Media

Grain moves through Port of Churchill

Sep 11, 2026 | 3:44 PM

The first grain vessel to export from the Port of Churchill since 2020 was loaded and sailed to Europe, marking another major milestone in the return of commercial shipping through Churchill.

Approximately 30,000 tonnes of Canadian durum wheat was supplied by Saskatchewan-based AGT Foods. The vessel is the first of three grain ships expected at Churchill this season as part of a new customer relationship between Arctic Gateway Group (AGG) and AGT Foods.

Northern and Arctic Affairs Minister Rebecca Chartrand said the Port of Churchill has an important role to play, providing an Indigenous- and locally owned northern gateway connecting Western Canadian producers and resources to global markets.

“The return of grain exports is another example of what this northern corridor can deliver as we strengthen and diversify Canada’s trade infrastructure,” Chartrand said. “At a time when the United States has fundamentally changed all of its trading relationships, we are focused on what we can control. This means building strength at home and diversifying trade, so that Canada is no longer reliant on a single trading partner.”

Manitoba Agriculture Minister Ron Kostyshyn said seeing Prairie grain once again moving through the Port of Churchill to European markets is an important milestone for Manitoba agriculture.

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“Our producers need more ways to reach customers around the world, and Churchill provides an important northern gateway that can help diversify our trade, strengthen our supply chains and create new opportunities for Manitoba and Western Canadian agriculture,” he said.

Murad Al-Katib, president and CEO of Regina-based AGT Foods and Ingredients Inc., said the port offers a shorter, efficient route connecting Western Canadian agriculture directly with customers in Europe and the Mediterranean.

The grain shipment is part of the most diversified shipping season in the history of the Port of Churchill. Another vessel arrived at the port to load zinc concentrate, as well as the port’s first-ever shipment of potash mined in Manitoba by Potash and Agri Development Corporation of Manitoba (PADCOM). The shipment is destined for the Port of Antwerp-Bruges, where AGG has developed a strategic advisory relationship with one of Europe’s largest and most active ports. AGG is also loading a northern resupply vessel destined for Nunavut, demonstrating the port’s growing role as both an international trade gateway and a supply hub for Canada’s Arctic.

Alongside a busy shipping season, AGG is continuing significant construction, engineering and modernization work across the port and the Hudson Bay Railway.

The Hudson Bay Railway and Port of Churchill are owned by OneNorth, a partnership of 29 First Nations and 12 northern communities, and operated by Arctic Gateway Group.

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alice.mcfarlane@pattisonmedia.com

by Pattison Media

Grain moves through Port of Churchill

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