Ontario Premier Doug Ford visited Thunder Bay on Tuesday and announced $2,804,955 in funding from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC) for upgrades at the Port of Thunder Bay and the Peninsula Harbour Port Authority in Marathon.
Ford called both terminals key gateways in Northwestern Ontario for expanding east-west trade in Canada, strengthening domestic supply chains and creating jobs in the North, while reducing reliance on the U.S.
Ford outlined the billions of dollars that have streamed into the North from the province as part of a plan to protect Ontario by building a more competitive, resilient and self-reliant economy.
“As part of that plan, . . . this funding will be used to expand Thunder Bay’s port storage and cargo staging capabilities and create a marine terminal at the Port of Marathon, so that these ports can increase cargo volumes and ship more local products, including critical minerals from the Ring of Fire, forestry products, grain, and potash, as well as components for pipelines and wind turbines to southern Ontario and other provinces and around the world,” Ford said.
Chris Heikkinen, Thunder Bay port chief executive officer, says Thunder Bay will receive more than $800,000 from this Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation funding for expansion of the port’s cargo lay-down areas at Keefer Terminal.
“When completed, it’s going to enable us to improve the efficiency of our cargo flows within the terminal,” he said. “Less handling means more money in the pockets of the shippers, but more than that, it’s going to allow us to increase the volumes of cargo that we can bring through the terminal.”
Heikkinen added that they were facing some pinch points with the amount of lay-down areas that they currently have.
“We’re expanding that by 10 acres, and that’s going to enable us to bring more cargo inbound to Keefer Terminal,” he said.
“There’s cargo out there to be had. It’s not always easy to attract from other supply chains, but with the repertoire of services and assets that we have at Keefer, and with this expansion, it becomes easier to grab every day.”
Marathon Mayor Rick Dumas said they’ve been working with Biigtigong Nishnaabeg First Nation and examining the Marathon port and the aspects of mining, forestry, as well as critical minerals and aggregates.
“We believe our port, in conjunction with Sault Ste. Marie and Thunder Bay can have a continuation of the Great Lakes, and get back to really huge economic opportunities for Marathon,” Dumas said.
“The key is getting the wharf ready to go for the ships to come, and getting the electrical on site. All the major infrastructure regarding rehabilitation of the wharf itself and the electrical is all going to happen this summer.”
Dumas says a functional Marathon port could be beneficial to work together with the Port Authority of Thunder Bay to ship products.
“Hopefully that relationship is something we can continue to build, which is also a brand new thing for Marathon and Biigtigong,” he said. “Working with the Port of Thunder Bay team could be a great opportunity for all of us. I don’t know what that looks like today, but it could be opportunities tomorrow.”
