Public Notice

November 1, 2023 – Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada must determine whether the proposed project is likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects.

To help inform this determination, Innovation, Science and Economic Development 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 November 30, 2023 to the coordinates listed on the project page.

 

The Proposed Project

New (Single) Tower Construction

Sapotaweyak Cree Nation is proposing the construction of a 33.5 meter telecommunication tower to provide high-speed internet access to the Sapotaweyak Cree Nation. Antennas will be mounted at the top of the tower. The antennas will operate in the 5 and 60 to 68 GHz frequency bands. All of the equipment necessary to operate this facility will be housed in a small equipment cabinet located on site. This tower may undergo future modifications or the addition/replacement of antennas.

Upgrade (Single) Tower

Sapotaweyak Cree Nation is proposing the addition of a 0.2 meter antennas, in the 5 and 60 to 68 GHz frequency bands, mounted at the top of an existing 61 meter tower which is located on Sapotaweyak Cree Nation. The antenna will be installed to improve network access to high-speed internet. In the future, the existing tower may have other antennas and other radiocommunication equipment added or replaced.

New Fibre Installation

Sapotaweyak Cree Nation plans to install underground fiber optic cabling, for Internet purposes, to all residential homes in the Sapotaweyak Cree Nation. The project involves the installation of approximately 57 km of underground  fiber optic cable from the 1^st E Street and Manitoba's Provincial Highway 10 in Mafeking, Manitoba, along to the new tower at Shoal River 65B Reserve.

The cable is to be buried by directional drilling, trenching, or using existing conduits, or a combination of these methods in existing roadway alignments.