Finding the Perfect Base: How Pinnacle Secured a Staging Site to Support a James Bay Healthcare Mega Project

Pinnacle Logistics Solutions Ltd., a specialty logistics provider for major infrastructure projects, was searching for an industrial facility capable of supporting rail-based freight logistics into Ontario’s Far North. They found Abitibi Connex, a former paper mill site in Iroquois Falls, Ontario. The site offered Pinnacle a rare combination of scale, infrastructure, and strategic positioning enabling them to reduce capital expenditures and launch their project sooner.

Highlights

• Reduced capital expenditures through the reuse of existing brownfield infrastructure

• Strategic Northern Ontario location with access to a skilled workforce and direct connectivity to one of only two rail lines serving Ontario’s Far North

• Flexible lease terms allowing for 4x expansion on a 40,000 sq. ft. lease

• On-site industrial services, including remediation, construction, rail operations, and transloading

“This partnership demonstrates the complex logistics coordination required for major northern development and the success that strong partnerships can deliver,” said Frank DeVries, Principal & General Manager, Pinnacle Logistics Solutions Ltd.

Background

Pomerleau, one of Canada’s largest construction firms, required a strategically located staging site to support its $1.8-billion Weeneebayko Area Health Authority (WAHA) Redevelopment Project in Moosonee and Moose Factory.

The site would be operated by Pinnacle Logistics Solutions Ltd., Pomerleau’s logistics partner and a specialist in over-dimensional and complex freight logistics. Pinnacle was responsible for coordinating the receipt, storage, and sequencing of materials required to construct a new regional healthcare campus serving communities along Ontario’s James Bay coast.

Pinnacle’s site selection criteria:

• Sufficient warehousing capacity (minimum 40,000 sq. ft.) to buffer production schedule variability

• Extensive laydown areas for heavy industrial equipment and material handling

• Indoor and outdoor rail access to support transloading and staging operations

The Challenge

Eighteen months ahead of the project start date, Pinnacle began searching for an industrial facility capable of supporting rail-served logistics into Ontario’s Far North.

Facilities in Southern Ontario offered rail connectivity and modern amenities but were designed primarily for high-throughput, rapid-turnover operations, with limited warehousing capacity. This posed a significant risk: without adequate storage, materials could overwhelm laydown areas at the final destination in Moosonee.

Northern Ontario options were equally constrained. Due to the region’s remoteness and the absence of comparable large-scale infrastructure projects in recent decades, very few sites had the infrastructure required to support operations of this scale.

The Solution: Abitibi Connex

Abitibi Connex, a former paper mill site in Iroquois Falls, Ontario, offered a rare combination of scale, infrastructure, and strategic positioning.

The brownfield site features existing power, water, and rail infrastructure and sits adjacent to one of only two rail lines serving Northern Ontario. Iroquois Falls, a community of approximately 4,500 residents, benefits from a skilled industrial workforce developed through decades of pulp and paper operations, including the former Resolute Forest Products mill, which closed in 2014.

BMI Group, a leading industrial redevelopment company, undertook targeted remediation and site revitalization to support Pinnacle’s operational needs. This included:

• Removal of designated substances and clean up of existing buildings

• Construction of interior partition walls

• Installation of heating systems

• Development of a custom driving ramp to accommodate transloading activities

“I commend the BMI Group for how quickly they ramped up the facility and for their flexibility in aligning with our operational requirements,” said Aaron Gerber, Principal and VP of Sales, Pinnacle Logistics Solutions Ltd.

Public / Private Collaboration

To enable full site functionality, BMI partnered with the Town of Iroquois Falls to petition Ontario Northland for the reinstatement of the 9.89-kilometre rail spur from Porquis Junction to Iroquois Falls, which had been out of service since 2014. The successful reinstatement of the rail line is enabling Pinnacle to perform its logistics operations in support of the WAHA Redevelopment Project.

“Abitibi Connex demonstrates how existing infrastructure can be re-tooled to catalyze major regional projects,” said John Veldman, Chief Operating Officer, BMI Group. “Logistics infrastructure that aligns with community needs is how Canada will realize its far-north and Arctic future.”

About Us

About Pinnacle Logistics Solutions Ltd.
Pinnacle Logistics Solutions Ltd. specializes in the planning and execution of logistics for major infrastructure projects, with particular expertise in challenging and remote project sites.

About Abitibi Connex
Abitibi Connex is a logistics hub located in Iroquois Falls serving northern Ontario's infrastructure, natural resources, and agriculture sectors throughout Ontario’s near and far-north communities.

About BMI Group
The BMI Group is an industrial re-futuring company specializing in the acquisition, ownership, and conversion of pulp and paper infrastructure into multi-venture operations.