[6] In December 2015, OmniTRAX announced it was negotiating a sale of the port, and the associated Hudson Bay Railway, to a group of First Nations based in northern Manitoba.

[7][8] With no sale finalized by July 2016, OmniTRAX shut down the port and major railroad freight operations along the HBR in August 2016.

The Port and the Hudson Bay Railway were sold to Arctic Gateway Group — a consortium of First Nations, local governments, and corporate investors — in 2018.

[13] The port was built in the late 1920s[citation needed] and began exporting grain shipments in 1931, following a six-year project to build the railway to connect Hudson Bay to other points in Canada for use in shipping.

[9] After purchasing the port and related infrastructure in 2018, the Arctic Gateway Group repaired the rail line before winter set in, lowering the cost of goods in Churchill.

[15] On September 7, 2019, the Arctic Gateway Group announced that it had successfully completed the loading of its first grain ship since operations were ceased in 2016.

[20] Since 2007, port activity diversified somewhat and increased in line with growth in Arctic mining operations in Nunavut and an expansion in supply ship reloading.

[21] On October 18, 2007 the port received its first import trade in seven years and the first ever from Russia, a shipment of fertilizer purchased by Farmers of North America.

[22] Exporting prairie wheat through Churchill saves Canadian farmers money on transportation in terms of rail-freight costs and avoiding Saint Lawrence Seaway charges,[citation needed] but the operating profits to the private company operating the port were highly dependent on the monopoly rates and rules implemented by the CWB.

[28] The government of Manitoba proposed in 2010 that the Port of Churchill could serve as the North American terminus of an Arctic Bridge shipping service to Murmansk in Northern Russia.

In 2013, the port's previous owner had proposed a $2 million upgrade to this system, which would have given additional competitive advantage to Canada's oil export industry.

Prevailing northerly winds from the North Pole jet across the frozen bay, leading to a January average of −26.0 °C (−14.8 °F).