In a calculated bid to diversify its natural gas exports beyond the US, Canada is reviving one of its oldest trade routes — through Hudson Bay — with plans for a modern deep-water port and LNG export terminal led by an indigenous-owned consortium.
NeeStaNan, a 100pc First Nation initiative majority-owned by Fox Lake Cree Nation, received federal authorization earlier this month from the Canada Energy Regulator (CER)to export LNG from Port Nelson in northern Manitoba.
The group is now conducting a feasibility study to develop a multi-functional, year-round port near the historic site on the western shore of Hudson Bay, once a key artery during the country's fur trade era.
The project is seen not only as a strategic export initiative but also as a significant act of reconciliation with indigenous peoples that have been marginalized for more than a century. The name "NeeStanNan" translates to "all of us" in the Cree language.
"This is about reclaiming our place in Canada's economic future," said Morris Beardy, chief of Fox Lake Cree Nation. "Canada offers a stable, trustworthy political environment and is a natural choice for clean, responsibly produced, competitively priced energy supplies."
Canada presently exports roughly 8 Bcf/d (226mn m3/d) of gas to the US by pipeline, which remains its dominant customer.
But under prime minister Mark Carney's proposed infrastructure fast-track initiative, or Bill C-5, projects deemed in the "national interest" — including pipelines, railways and ports — would be accelerated to counter rising protectionism in the US and open new corridors to global markets, specifically Europe.
On Thursday, the first of three shipments from the newly-commissioned LNG Canada terminal at Kitimat, British Columbia, arrived in South Korea. The second is to arrive in Japan this week.
The Port Nelson project represents an about-face for Carney's Liberal Party, whose former leader Justin Trudeau infamously insisted there was "no business case" for exporting Canadian LNG to countries such as Germany, despite assertions from former chancellor Olaf Scholz to the contrary.
According to the NeeStaNan website, shipping distances to Rotterdam and other EU ports are shorter than the US Gulf coast. Nelson is considered more favorable than the Port of Churchill, located 150 miles (240 kilometres) to the north and is already utilized for exporting grain,because it offers year-round ice free access to large ocean going vessels.
The Port Nelson plan includes the construction of a 94-mile heavy rail spur connecting the site to the existing Hudson Bay Railway near Gillam, Manitoba.
NeeStaNan said upgrading the line would enable LNG and other commodities such as potash, ore, grain, and hydrogen — and even crude from Alberta's oil sands — to be shipped directly to tidewater, bypassing bottlenecks in traditional west coast routes.
On 8 February, NeeStaNan signed a memorandum of understanding with Northern Prince LNG to evaluate building an LNG terminal at the site, pending the outcome of the study.
The study will also explore long-distance pipeline options to Hudson Bay, signaling Canada's renewed commitment to both energy exports and Indigenous-led nation-building.
