Canada investing in Mackenzie Valley Highway project

The Government of Canada has announced an investment of $102.5 million in support of the Mackenzie Valley Highway project.

“This funding announcement is of great significance to the Northwest Territories and supports key components of the larger Mackenzie Valley Highway project,” said Wally Schumann, Minister of Infrastructure for Northwest Territories. “Highway infrastructure plays a very important part in in the longevity and health of our communities. Not just because of the connections it will make, but also because of the skills, training and economic benefit opportunities that construction projects bring to the communities and the people of the north.”

This funding supports several key phases of the longer-term project:

• construction of a bridge over the Great Bear River, which will improve the resiliency of the winter road to climate change, enhance safety, extend the number of operating days of the winter road by two to four weeks, and enhance the efficiency of community resupply operations;
• construction of a 15 kilometre all-weather road from Wrigley north to Mount Gaudet; and
• next steps in moving forward with the Mackenzie Valley Highway, including environmental and planning studies. The studies will inform final routing and design for the eventual construction of the all-weather highway, leading to obtaining permits for road construction.

The Government of Northwest Territories is contributing $37.5 million to the project for a total combined investment from both governments of $140 million.

This project is expected to have significant economic and employment benefits by creating an estimated 400 jobs over the life of the project.