Top government officials from the Province of Ontario, Canada have recently expressed interest in developing a maritime port on James Bay, which extends southeast of Hudson Bay. While a port in such a location could be built to berth mega-size ships, there will be need for negotiation between Ontario and Canada’s Federal Government in order to proceed with developing the proposed port.
Introduction
Close to 50 percent of Canada’s population lives in the Province of Ontario, which is also home to Canada’s largest manufacturing sector. Several maritime ports located at Thunder Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Windsor, Hamilton, Oshawa and Johnstown connect Ontario to the Atlantic Ocean and international ports. Changing summertime weather conditions in Canada’s Arctic region now allow ships to sail between the North Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans. At present, a deep-water port operates at Churchill at the southwest corner of Hudson Bay, originally developed to export Western Canadian agricultural produce to Europe.
The railway distance between Toronto and Churchill is almost equal to that between Toronto and Vancouver. A comparatively short distance of railway line extends north from Toronto to within 12 miles of James Bay. The cost of railway transportation per unit of distance is much higher that that of waterway transportation - hence the interest in developing a port on James Bay, which would be within relatively close proximity to the Greater Toronto Area. Trans-Arctic summer sailing is beginning to make it possible for ships to sail between North American East Coast ports and East Asian ports, as well as North American Pacific ports.
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