Today in Iqaluit, Nunavut, the Honourable Catherine McKenna, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities of Canada, on behalf of the Honourable Bernadette Jordan, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, provided an update on plans for two new Small Craft Harbours in Nunavut Territory, at Clyde River and Arctic Bay. 

Over the next two years, Fisheries and Oceans Canada will be investing approximately $15 million on detailed design, consultants and site supervision, before beginning construction on two new small craft harbours at Arctic Bay and Clyde River, Nunavut.

Detailed design work on the two harbours is nearing completion. Each of these harbours will include a fixed wharf for larger vessels, a dredged entrance channel and basin, a breakwater, marshalling area, a sea-lift ramp, and floating wharves for small vessels. The civil engineering design contract for the Arctic Bay Small Craft Harbour was awarded to Worley Canada Services Limited and Ikpiayuk Services Limited in joint venture, and the design contract for the Clyde River Small Craft Harbour was awarded to CBCL Limited and Canadrill Limited in joint venture.

An additional significant investment will be made during the construction phase of these projects. The work at both harbours is expected to be completed by 2025.

The two new harbours at Clyde River and Arctic Bay are an integral part of the recently established Tallurutiup Imanga National Marine Conservation Area and the associated Inuit Impact and Benefit Agreement. They support the Tuvaijuittuq Marine Protected Area through a whole-of-government approach, which was negotiated with the Qikiqtani Inuit Association.

Harbour infrastructure in Arctic Bay and Clyde River will be similar to the Pangnirtung Small Craft Harbour that opened in 2013. The Pangnirtung Small Craft Harbour was the first federally-operated first small craft harbour in the North, and is an essential part of the community.