Infrastructure bank takes on advisory role on proposed $1.6B power, fibre link between Manitoba and Nunavut

The Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) will be taking on an advisory role on a proposed project that would connect five remote communities in Nunavut with Manitoba’s power grid.

The federal institution said Feb. 5 it will engage with stakeholders and conduct market analysis for the $1.6 billion project backed by the Kivalliq Inuit Association, Sakku Investments Corp., Anbaric Development Partners and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.

Along with supplying five Inuit communities with more reliable and cleaner power, the project includes installing fibreoptic cabling to boost internet speeds in the hamlets on the western shore of Hudson Bay. The project team says the 1,200-kilometre Kivalliq Hydro-Fibre Link would improve connection costs while vastly improving internet speeds.

Several mines in the region would also benefit from the linkage to Manitoba’s power grid, which relies overwhelmingly on hydro generation. As in most other remote northern communities, the area currently depends on diesel generators using shipped-in fuel

Though still in the early stages, the cost to construct the linkage is estimated at $1.6 billion.