Port of Churchill welcomes first cruise ship in over a decade during busy weekend

Churchill, Man., has had all hands on deck since Saturday night, withcargo heading out to Canada's north andhundreds of visitors arriving on the first cruise ship to dock there in over a decade

A resupply vessel that will carry non-perishable foods and supplies like lumber to Nunavut's Kivalliq region came into the Port of Churchill around 6 p.m. July 15. And some 12 hours later, the northern port welcomed more than 100 passengerson the Silver Endeavour cruise ship, which will depart from Churchill on another journey this week.

"We've got a port here getting utilized, which is great to see," said Churchill mayor Mike Spence.

"We had the resupply vessel here at 6 p.m. last evening and about 12 hours later we have a cruise ship come along the dock site, so it's excellent, we're very proud of it."

The Silver Endeavour brought in about 100 paid passengers on July 16 and typically operates on aone-to-one ratio of guests to crew, always forecasting for 200 guestson the ship according to RemiFoubert-Allen.Foubert-Allen owns North Star Tours, a local company involved with planning activities for the visitors once they're on the ground.

He said the passengers will depart the ship Monday, before about another 130 guests get back on it for its next voyage.

Foubert-Allen expects 400 people, "if not a little more," will have visited the town when all's said and done.

Economic boost

The arrival of the cruise ship and the three-day showcase of Churchill didn't happenovernight.

"This has been in the works for almost four years, we had this planned out pre-COVID," said Foubert-Allen. "This has been in the works for a while, so it's really nice to actually see it coming to fruition."

Foubert-Allen noted that it's been a group effort between many parties.

He said a Winnipeg company called Heartland Travel was responsible for the detailed logistics, like charters. North Star helped to source staff and recommended an agenda for whichtours the company can offer for visitors.

The Arctic Gateway Group, which owns the port, tied up the ship Sunday morning and from there, passengers went down the lower docks of Sea North Tours where they were taken to Prince of Wales Fort to do a historical hike.

"Having another avenue to employ people is great and the Port of Churchill is one of those avenues," said Foubert-Allen. "The fact that we're combining tourism and the port into one kind of thing is just perfect, I think, for the community."

Foubert-Allen also noted the potential boost to the economy visitors could provide for businesses outside of his tour company, like restaurants and gift shops.

"If we have 200 people spend 100 bucks in town each day over the course of three days, that really adds up, that's a good boost to our economy not even including the tours that they've booked and the people that are employed or in the background," he said. "It's really good to the community."

Brendan McEwan, the president of Churchill's Chamber of Commerce, echoed Foubert-Allen, adding in the importance of the port for resupply vessels. He also said the use port for moving supplies brings increased use of the rail line, which in turn can help local businesses and investment in infrastructure.

"We would consider ourselves a gateway to the north and we look forward to building and increasing these relationships as we go forward," he said. "Not just in Churchill, but in Manitoba,things are happening, things are booming. There's a lot of just economic enthusiasm right now in the region."

And Spence said places like Churchill can be relied on because of their access to northern routes whether it be for tourism or trade.

"It's northern Canada's turn to make a difference here and we've always been here," said Spence.