Climate change threatens northern Ontario's winter road system — so what can be done about it?
Cat Lake First Nation has had to make its own snow this season
Tyler Tyance is all too familiar with the long days, cold nights and dangers of constructing northern Ontario's winter roads, but this year, his crew faces a new challenge: not enough snow.
Winter roads are a lifeline for remote First Nations, which rely on seasonal routes to get essential supplies to their communities. Tyance, owner of the Rezneck Diesel Crew, has been building the road to Cat Lake First Nation, about 180 kilometres north of Sioux Lookout, over the past several weeks.
"You're pretty much at the mercy of Mother Nature," Tyance said. "It's really, really tough on your body and really exhausting."
Last year, he broke through the ice while operating a snow-grooming machine and had to quickly climb out so his crew could pull out the machine before it froze.
This time last year, the Cat Lake road was open to light traffic. But due to unusually warm temperatures this year, they're weeks behind schedule. The community has borrowed snow guns from the Dryden Ski Club to help pack down the muskeg and Tyance is using a self-contained unit from Alberta with two industrial snow guns attached.
It's a similar story in several other First Nations across the region, with climate change once again raising concerns about the future of the winter road network. As of Tuesday, North Caribou Lake First Nation is the only community open to full loads in Ontario, with four others open to light loads and 26 roads currently under construction, according to Indigenous Services Canada (ISC).
Infrastructure projects delayed
It's much cheaper to transport supplies to remote First Nations by winter road than by plane. Last year, Cat Lake's winter road was open for seven to eight weeks, but this season, Chief Russell Wesley said they'll be lucky to get four to five weeks out of the season.
This means major infrastructure projects keep getting delayed. For example, Cat Lake has been trying to resurface its airport for years, and Wesley is concerned it will be pushed back again if the bridges can't support the weight of the transport trucks.
Another challenge is tight turnarounds to apply for provincial and federal funding, especially when grant money must be used by a certain date, he said.
"Sometimes their approval cycles are not aligned with the winter road window, so oftentimes what happens is different construction projects get delayed and they miss the winter road window."
Work is underway to streamline and simplify project approvals to prevent this from happening, said Nico Paul, ISC's director of community infrastructure for the Ontario region.
"You really look at the typical winter road season for that community and then start to work backwards, so you'll understand when would the design have to be done, when would you have to go to tender, when would you need to start to have materials ready to be shipped up the winter roads."
Adapting to new norms
Tyance and his crew have been working around the clock as they near the completion of Cat Lake's road. He often ends up either sleeping in his machine or staying in a cabin halfway between Pickle Lake and Cat Lake.
Not long ago, it would have been unheard of for winter road crews to make their own snow, but like others, Tyance suspects this is the new norm. Cat Lake is considering buying its own snow-making machine, which could cost at least $80,000.
"I think we really need to have the two levels of government and the First Nations sit down and say, 'Hey, look, what are we going to be doing in the future, because this trend is not going to go away,'" said Wesley.
Anita Tamrazi, spokesperson for Ontario's Ministry of Northern Development, said in an emailed statement to CBC News that the province funds the construction and maintenance of about 3,200 kilometres of winter roads, connecting 32 remote First Nations and the town of Moosonee to the provincial highway network.
Ontario is providing $6 million in base funding for the 2023-2024 season, and that's matched by the federal government, Tamrazi said. An additional $5 million was announced last summer through the ministry's new bridges and culverts stream.
Lindsey Jupp is the environmental technologist for Matawa First Nations Management, which oversees the Matawa 808 Winter Road Network.
She said the bridges and culverts stream has provided funding for two new bridges on the Webequie First Nation route this year. However, their construction depends on whether the ice is thick enough to support heavy loads and it can be hard to schedule this work amid ever-changing conditions, she said.
"We're running out of time really, given the weather patterns," Jupp said. "Year after year it's progressively getting worse, so it is difficult to say what the future will hold."
Some workarounds include realigning the routes to higher ground or installing permanent water crossings, said Jupp, though these come at a high cost. She said revisiting the annual funding that First Nations receive to maintain the roads is long overdue.
Planning for all-season roads
Paul said ISC's role in supporting winter roads revolves around three key aspects: partnerships, funding and strategy/planning.
In the short-term, he said, planning includes ensuring the most important shipments are prioritized, promoting night travel when conditions are coldest and supporting ongoing maintenance to keep the roads safe.
As for the future, he spoke of plans for all-season roads and interim investments that will support them.
"For example, if we're looking to replace an ice crossing on a winter road, we'd look at maybe replacing it with a bridge and maybe that bridge would be part of that long-term all-season road network to that community," Paul said.
He also mentioned the Northern Roads Summit in Thunder Bay this fall, and said bringing partners and stakeholders together like this "will be a good first step to continue supporting the all-seasons road development."
"Any investment that can go to the long-term vision towards all-season roads and eventually come off of needing to rely on winter roads — those are the types of investments that are being prioritized at this time," Paul said.
Only two First Nations in northern Ontario are actively working toward all-season roads: Marten Falls First Nation and Webequie First Nation. It's a contentious topic among First Nation communities, especially amid opposition to the province's plans to forge a path to mining deposits like the Ring of Fire in the James Bay lowlands.
Karen Waite, ISC's regional program manager of assets and northern roads, emphasized the importance of listening to what First Nations are asking for and not working in silos.
"Any strategy that we're developing is based on what the communities are telling us," she said.
While many elders and community members are opposed to all-season roads, Tyance said something must be done before winter roads are no longer sustainable.
But as Kiiwetinoong MPP Sol Mamakwa said, no matter what long-term solution is proposed to get supplies to communities, it's important that, "Any roads that are made there should be controlled by First Nations" and "led by the First Nations."
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