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The federal government is investing in a major construction project at Miminegash Harbour on P.E.I.’s northwestern shore.
The work will include rebuilding two of the harbour’s southern breakwaters, a shoreline protection structure and the wharf, Fisheries and Oceans Canada said in a news release Friday.
The project is part of a broader federal commitment announced in the 2026 Spring Economic Update to invest nearly $1 billion over five years to repair, maintain and modernize small-craft harbours across Canada.
“This harbour, Miminegash, is critical to the fishing industry in western P.E.I. and to this community,” Egmont MP Bobby Morrissey told CBC News.
“I’m pleased that … the prime minister recognized that and was instrumental in ensuring that our government appropriate close to a billion dollars to this infrastructure, which we’ll roll out over the next couple of years.”
Egmont MP Robert Morrissey says Miminegash Harbour is ‘critical to the fishing industry in western P.E.I.’ (Connor Lamont/CBC)
Work will focus on the southern part of the harbour. DFO said the project is intended to improve safety and reliability and make the infrastructure more resilient to climate change and extreme weather.
The harbour is home to about 41 commercial fishing vessels and their crews. Commercial lobster landings there were worth more than $10 million in 2025, according to the release.
Fishers are not expected to be impacted during construction.
Harbour manager David Ellsworth said the work is going to make “a big difference.”
“Not only appearance, but … make it safer, and we’ve been after it for a good while and it’s finally coming around,” he said.
“You can travel in and out, but if you get a storm coming and the high tide … and if you don’t know the harbour … it’s not going to be safe.”
There’s no word yet on how much the work at Miminegash Harbour will cost, but construction is expected to start next year. (Connor Lamont/CBC)
Morrissey said the harbour is operational but there were concerns it would fall into a state of disrepair.
He didn’t say how much the work at Miminegash Harbour will cost, but the project will go to tender in the coming months with plans for construction to start next year.
“This is an investment in the community and the fishing industry will see that … government recognizes this is important infrastructure and that there’s a future for them here in this part of P.E.I.,” Morrissey said.
Repairs and modernization of harbours in Atlantic Canada and eastern Quebec began under the federal Hurricane Fiona Recovery Fund and the 2024 budget.
Fisheries and Oceans Canada manages more than 900 harbours that support the landing of about 90 per cent of the country’s fish products.