Federal government gives $65M to Arctic resupply efforts

Tulita, Norman Wells, and three Inuvialuit communities will receive money through a federal fund designed to help areas of the Arctic that rely on barge resupply and sealift.

Ottawa on Thursday said it would spend just under $65 million from its Oceans Protection Plan on 15 projects across northern Canada, including several in the NWT.

The federal government says the projects will help make resupply efforts “faster, safer, and more efficient for remote northern communities.”

In the NWT, the money will be used to repair and upgrade equipment.

The dock in Norman Wells will be restored by replacing certain parts, repairing the bollards to which ships are secured, and removing excess gravel.

In Tulita, fuel storage equipment will be upgraded and a pipeline used to transfer petroleum from barges will be replaced.

Three communities in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region will see repairs to the areas in which barges are secured for sealift operations. The exact communities were not specified in Thursday’s news release.