Northern corridors: Hype or hope? Heather Exner-Pirot – MLI

April 14, 2025

Will investing in infrastructure like rail and ports unlock the North’s natural resources?

It is inconceivable that all lands north of the 60th parallel, representing 35 per cent of Canada’s total land area, which we believe contain a great natural resource potential, will remain as an undeveloped portion of Canada. The resources are there, although the people and private industry are as yet not there in sufficient numbers.
— Hon. Arthur Laing, Minister of Northern Affairs and National Resources, 1966

In the rush to diversify Canada’s trade routes and export destinations, provincial, territorial, and federal politicians of all partisan stripes have heralded new corridors and ports. With major ports already established on the Pacific side, in Vancouver and Prince Rupert; and the Atlantic side, in Montreal, Halifax, and Saint John; attention has turned to the Arctic.

The region has become, again, of interest for its shipping routes, resource development, and security importance. The politics of northern development are attractive, but are the economics? Is there a rationale for Canada to develop northern corridors to ports on our Arctic coasts?

Read More: https://macdonaldlaurier.ca/northern-corridors-hype-or-hope-heather-exner-pirot/