Manitoba is putting up $51 million in new funding to help upgrade the Hudson Bay Railway line as federal and provincial government officials met in Winnipeg Sunday to work toward the possibility of expanding the Port of Churchill.

Arctic Gateway Group, a partnership of dozens of First Nations and Hudson Bay communities that owns the port, said in a news release that the new money would be put toward bringing the northern rail line up to Class I to accommodate heavier loads.

The funding will also help pay for a new critical-minerals storage facility at the Port of Churchill, the province said in a joint statement with the federal government on Sunday .

However Ottawa's list of major projects of "national importance" still does not include the port expansion.

In September, the Port o

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