Fort Alexander First Nation, Sagkeeng, Shoreline Stabilization Phase III, Part B

Fort Alexander First Nation, Sagkeeng, Shoreline Stabilization Phase III, Part B – Public comments invited

30 October, 2026 –Indigenous Services Canada must determine whether the proposed Fort Alexander First Nation, Sagkeeng, Shoreline Stabilization Phase III, Part B, located in Fort Alexander, Sagkeeng, Manitoba, is likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects.

To help inform this determination, Indigenous Services Canada is inviting comments from the public respecting that determination. All comments received will be considered public and may be posted online.

Written comments must be submitted by 30 November, 2026 to:

Lori Bueckert
Indigenous Services Canada
365 Hargrave Street
Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3B 3A3
204 227 3254
lori.bueckert@sac-isc.gc.ca

The proposed project

Slope stabilization and installation of an engineered riprap erosion control blanket along approximately 145 m of the Lake Winnipeg shoreline at the mouth of the Winnipeg River (Traverse Bay) in the Sagkeeng First Nation Fort Alexander Reserve. The project is required to arrest severe shoreline erosion and slope failures that have encroached to within 5 m of the pavement of Provincial Trunk Highway 11. Average shoreline loss has been approximately 1.1 m/year since 2012.  There are also several residences within 250 m of the site, along the shoreline and highway.

The design is consistent with that of approximately 4 km of works along the Traverse Bay shoreline, within the reserve, that were completed in several contracts between 2010 and 2025. The shoreline in this area is susceptible to rapid erosion and shoreline slumping  above the normal high water mark due to erodible soils and extreme wave action over highly variable water levels resulting from seiche events and wind setup during storms.  The combination of wave activity and erodible soils causes the banks to be undercut and then slump toward the shoreline.

As the soils at this site are rapidly slumping toward the lake and material has been lost at the toe of the highway embankment, clay fill will be added and compacted to restore a portion of the embankment between the highway and the shoreline.  This work will be completed in  fall (mid to late October 2026), prior to freezing, to facilitate compaction of fill soils and reduce long-term settlement.

Once the highway embankment is re-established, the remaining shoreline stabilization and erosion protection works will be completed under frozen conditions (December 2026 to March 2027).  Key elements of the design include excavating a keyway for scour protection at the base of the eroded bank (elevation 215.7 m, isolated from the water's edge by a beach), regrading the eroded bank to a stable slope, installing non-woven geotextile along the bank and keyway to an elevation of 220.4 m (above the high water / scour elevation), placing a 0.30 m thick bedding layer of 150 mm down granular material, placing 300 to 600 mm diameter riprap (blast rock) above the bedding material to a final grade of 4h:1v, and site restoration works.  At elevations above the riprap blanket, over-steepened slopes will be graded where necessary to 4:1 h:v, overlain with erosion control blankets and topsoil, and seeded.  Final site restoration works, above the extreme high water mark, will be completed in spring 2027.  Access will be from PTH 11.  The site will be cleared and grubbed to the extent necessary for equipment to work from the top of the bank, but this clearing will be minimal, as the site has been previously cleared and highly disturbed, currently supporting only grasses, weeds and some small shrubs.  No in-water work will be conducted.  Some material (e.g. salvaged topsoil) will be stockpiled on or near the site at locations to be approved by the engineer.