Pomerleau picks Abitibi to assis with $1.8B WAHA project
The logistics operation is expected to handle roughly 3,000 rail cars over three years.
Key Takeaways:
- Pomerleau has enlisted Abitibi Connex and Pinnacle Logistics to coordinate materials for the $1.8‑billion WAHA Redevelopment Project, which will deliver new health care facilities in Moosonee and Moose Factory by 2030.
- The project will use a redeveloped paper mill site in Iroquois Falls as a logistics hub, with Ontario Northland Rail upgrading 11.5 km of track to move roughly 3,000 rail cars of materials north over three years.
- The effort will create about 120 jobs during peak construction while bringing modern, culturally tailored health care closer to remote James Bay and Hudson Bay communities.
The Whole Story:
Pomerleau has tapped Abitibi Connex and Pinnacle Logistics Solutions Ltd. to coordinate material deliveries for the $1.8-billion Weeneebayko Area Health Authority (WAHA) Redevelopment Project, a major health care initiative serving Ontario’s James Bay and Hudson Bay coasts.
The project, set for completion in 2030, will include a 36-bed hospital and long-term Elder Care Lodge in Moosonee, along with an ambulatory care centre in Moose Factory. The new facilities will provide emergency, acute, and specialty care designed to reflect local culture and reduce the need for residents to travel hundreds of kilometres for treatment.
Material transfers began this month through Abitibi Connex, a former paper mill in Iroquois Falls redeveloped by BMI Group and Dutch investors Business-EQ. Ontario Northland Rail is upgrading an 11.5-kilometre rail spur to link the hub with the Cochrane junction, where materials will be transported north.
The logistics operation is expected to handle roughly 3,000 rail cars over three years and create about 120 jobs at peak construction. Pinnacle Logistics said the centralized hub is key to delivering infrastructure to such a remote region.
“This partnership demonstrates the complex logistics coordination needed for major northern development, and the success partnerships like this bring to them,” said Frank Devries, principal and general manager of Pinnacle Logistics Solutions.
John Veldman, chief operating officer of BMI Group, said repurposing the former mill site for the project highlights how existing infrastructure can be leveraged to unlock development in Canada’s near north and Arctic regions.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the launch of Abitibi Connex will be held on July 25 in Iroquois Falls.