Churchill MB (Manitoba Canada)

Churchill is a port town in Canada's Manitoba province, located on Hudson Bay's west coast (at the mouth of Churchill River). Churchill MB is approx 90 mi / 140 km from the border with Nunavut (Canada's largest and northernmost territory) and has population under 1,000. The closest city is Thompson MB (approx 250 mi / 400 km to the south), while Winnipeg MB (the province's capital city) is approx 620 mi / 1000 km to the south.

Port Churchill (locode CACHV) is on Hudson Bay and is privately owned (by Arctic Gateway Group LP/2018-founded subsidiary of OmniTRAX Inc). The Port is the northern terminus of the Hudson Bay Railway (1997-established line Saskatchewan-Manitoba line/Lynn Lake-Churchill) which is also managed by Arctic Gateway. The Port's facilities (4x deepwater berths) handle mainly bulk cargo ships (Panamax-size, serving grain export, bulk and general cargo, as well as tanker ships.

Churchill is Canada's only large harbour port that is not directly connected to the road system. All goods to and from Port Churchill are transported only by rail.

The Port's commercial shipping operations (grain export) officially started in 1931, and in 1932 was handled the first import cargo ship. Churchill MB's shipping and freight train operations ceased in August 2016 after CWB/Canadian Wheat Board (1935-2015) was dissolved. In 2018, The Port and its infrastructure were acquired by Arctic Gateway Group and the shipping operations were restarted in September 2019.

Due to ice, the Port is accessible only in summer-fall (July thru November). Pilotage is mandatory and provided by the Great Lakes Pilotage Authority (serving Hudson Bay's coasts of Ontario and Manitoba). Around 90% of the entire shipping traffic is grain (prairie wheat) export as shipping is cheaper (in comparison to rail-freight) and also via Churchill are avoided St Lawrence Seaway's navigation costs.

In 2010 was proposed a plan for Port Churchill to become the terminus of an Arctic shipping line linking Canada with Russia (Murmansk). The proposed line could serve ex-China TEU containers transported to Murmansk by rail and then shipped to Churchill, from where transported by rail to North American destinations.

Churchill Airport is approx 4 mi / 6 km southeast of the town. The airport is domestic and handles a high number of seasonal passengers (tourists and scientists). The airline Calm Air provides regularly scheduled domestic flights linking to Rankin Inlet (Nunavut) and Winnipeg.

The town's current-day economy is heavily based on tourism focused on polar bear watching (October-November) and beluga whale watching (June-July, in the river). The region is also popular for the aurora borealis/polar lights and scientific research (Churchill Northern Studies Centre).

As cruise port, Churchill MB was visited in 2023 (following a hiatus of ~20 years) by Silversea's ultra-luxury ship Silver Endeavour. Next table shows the 16-day North Atlantic itinerary from Iceland to Canada.

The voyage was priced from US$23720 per person with double occupancy.

The region was first visited by the Europeans in the early 17th century (1619) while the settlement (Churchill River Post) was established a century later (in 1717) by the HBC (Hudson's Bay Company/1670-founded, Toronto Ontario-based). Churchill was built as a fortified trading post and (along with the river) was named after John Churchill (1650-1722, the 1st Duke of Marlborough, 1st Prince of Mindelheim, 1st Count of Nellenburg, and Prince of the Holy Roman Empire) who at the time was HBC's governor. A second settlement (Prince of Wales Fort) was built at the river's mouth. The post served mainly the fur trade with the Chipewyan and Cree Indians and was protected by Cape Merry Battery (built on the fort's opposite side).

Churchill MB went into decline in the late 18th century along with the fur trade. Then was decided on Hudson Bay to be created a major harbour port railway-linked with Winnipeg. In 1912, for the project was selected Port Nelson (at Nelson River's mouth) but after WW1 (1914-18) it was abandoned and replaced with Churchill. The Winnipeg-Churchill railroad was completed in 1929.