Joint Funding For Improvements To All-Season Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Highway

INUVIK, Northwest Territories: Michael McLeod, Member of Parliament for Northwest Territories, and Diane Archie, Minister of Infrastructure of the Northwest Territories, have announced joint funding of $14 million for the rehabilitation of the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway.

Funding will support improvements to the existing highway by raising low profile embankment areas between KM 22 and KM 90, improving drainage, and installing guardrails as needed. The rehabilitation of the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway will improve road safety and reliability for residents and provide a better driving experience to motorists.

The all-season highway is critical for residents of Tuktoyaktuk to access essential services and helps tourists discover northern communities and get to the Arctic Ocean.

Northern infrastructure is subject to the effects of unique land attributes, harsh environments, and climate change. Temperatures in northern Canada have increased 3 times more than the global mean warming rate and more than in southern Canada.

The project is built in an area of continuous permafrost and is therefore highly susceptible to the impacts of a warming climate, including melting permafrost, which is a challenge experienced by various infrastructure assets across the North. This investment will increase the highway’s resilience and extend its lifespan.

MP McLeod said: “Being able to travel and access essential services year-round is so important to the lives of Northerners.Today’s investment to rehabilitate key sections of the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway will improve the road’s safety for drivers. The maintenance work will ensure continued access for the residents of Tuktoyaktuk to essential services, goods, tourism and ongoing economic opportunities.”

Minister Diane Archie said:

“Investing in highway infrastructure in the Northwest Territories connects communities, enhances quality of life and helps reduce the cost of living for Northerners. I’m pleased to be working with our federal partners on improving the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway. This investment will not only make the highway safer and more reliable, it will ensure residents continue to benefit from improved social, educational and economic opportunities.”

• The Government of Canada is investing $10,500,000 in this project through the Rural and Northern Communities Infrastructure Stream of the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program. The Government of the Northwest Territories is investing $3,500,000.

• Under the Investing in Canada Plan, the federal government is investing more than $180 billion over 12 years in public transit projects, green infrastructure, social infrastructure, trade and transportation routes, and Canada’s rural and northern communities.

• Over the past 6 years, the Government of Canada has invested more than $672.5 million in 179 infrastructure projects across the Northwest Territories.

• During that period, more than $49.7 billion has been invested in communities by Infrastructure Canada across the country to support world-class infrastructure projects, including more than $7 billion for infrastructure improvements to highways and roads.