WCS Canada comment: Grays Bay Road and Port Project

Insley, S., Halliday, W. & Ray, J.

Key points

WCS Canada scientists submitted comments to the Nunavut Impact Review Board on the Draft Scope List and Draft Impact Statement Guidelines for the proposed Grays Bay Road and Port Project, a major infrastructure development in Nunavut with the potential to significantly transform a remote and ecologically intact Arctic region.

This project proposes the construction of a 230km all-season industrial road and deep-water port designed to unlock access to a mineral-rich region of the central Canadian Arctic. Our submission focused on two main areas:

1. Marine environmental risks, particularly related to underwater noise, shipping traffic, and transboundary cumulative effects; and
2. Project-wide issues, including the application of the mitigation hierarchy, induced development, community benefit clarity, climate change impacts, and the selection of valued ecosystem components.

Our comments emphasize the need for a comprehensive and precautionary approach to environmental assessment, rooted in the legal requirements of the Nunavut Planning and Project Assessment Act (NuPPAA) and the values of the Nunavut Agreement. We also recommend that the NIRB consider a parallel Strategic Environmental Assessment to evaluate broader regional and cumulative effects beyond this project alone.

Recommended citation

Insley, S., Halliday, W. & Ray, J. (2025). WCS Canada comment: Grays Bay Road and Port Project. Wildlife Conservation Society Canada [WCS Canada]. https://wcscanada.org/resources/wcs-canada-comment-grays-bay-road-and-port-project/

Stephen Insley

Conservation Scientist and Arctic Canada Program Director

William Halliday

Conservation Scientist/Arctic Acoustics Program Lead

Justina Ray

President & Senior Scientist