Secretary Long highlights budget investment in new Trade Diversification Corridors Fund at Port Saint John

From: Department of Finance Canada

News release

November 8, 2025 - Saint John, New Brunswick - Department of Finance

In a rapidly changing and uncertain world, Canada’s new government is focused on what we can control. We are protecting our communities and our country. We are building our economy with major projects and millions more homes. We are empowering Canadians with lower costs and new opportunities to help you get ahead. We cannot control what other nations do, but we can control what we choose to build—and we are building Canada Strong.

Today, the Honourable Wayne Long, Secretary of State responsible for the Canada Revenue Agency and Financial Institutions, visited Port Saint John to highlight Budget 2025’s launch of a new Trade Diversification Corridors Fund to strengthen supply chains, unlock new export opportunities, and build a more resilient, diversified economy. This will help Canada transition from an economy reliant on one trade partner to one resilient to global shocks.

Through the new $5 billion Trade Diversification Corridors Fund, we will improve access to overseas markets by investing in new port, airport, and railway infrastructure. The Fund will support projects of all scales, including digital infrastructure, to improve the ability of our imports and exports to travel efficiently across the country and to and from the rest of the world. Canada will be a fast, reliable, and indispensable global partner. This Fund will also be supported by the Canada Infrastructure Bank in assessing projects and determining the appropriate mix of government supports.

The Trade Diversification Corridors Fund forms part of our new Trade Diversification Strategy. Building on Canada’s world-class agreements and partnerships, the Trade Diversification Strategy will double overseas exports over a decade, generating $300 billion more in trade. To do this, Canada must focus on growing areas of key competitive advantage and supercharging engagement with the world’s fastest growing markets.

These bold new investments in trade and transportation infrastructure projects through Budget 2025 will help Canada deepen its trade relationships with reliable partners, moving our economy from reliance to resilience and creating thousands of good-paying jobs in every region of the country.

Quotes

“Our new government’s first budget is about making generational investments from a position of strength, to move our economy from reliance to resilience. That’s why we are making bold new investments to strengthen ports, railways, and ports of entry, reduce bottlenecks, and open faster routes to global markets. Through the new $5 billion Trade Diversification Corridors Fund, we will invest in projects like the proposed Saint John Trade Corridor project and others across the country to expand Canada’s reach and help double our overseas exports within a decade, unlocking $300 billion in new opportunities for our workers and businesses.”

— The Honourable Wayne Long, Secretary of State responsible for the Canada Revenue Agency and Financial Institutions

Quick facts

  • Canada is a trading nation with trade totaling approximately two-thirds of gross domestic product (GDP). 

  • Canada has significant untapped potential to diversify its trade:

    • Canada’s trade deal with the United States and Mexico gives preferential access to about 28 per cent of the global economy, and its network of other trade agreements extends that reach to around 66 per cent, including every other G7 country.

  • Unlocking this potential requires targeted, forward-looking investments in trade infrastructure that allow goods to move efficiently, avoiding bottlenecks.

    • To enable this investment, Budget 2025 proposes to invest $6 billion in Canadian transportation infrastructure, which could raise productivity and increase Canadian GDP by up to $21 billion

  • Examples of projects that the government will consider investing in as part of the new Trade Diversification Corridors Fund include key projects in New Brunswick like the Saint John Trade Corridor project and critical minerals export opportunities at the Port of Belledune, projects in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Region, ports in northeastern Québec like enhancing the Port of Saguenay’s capacity to build a second wharf, rail lines in Alberta, port and rail infrastructure on the West Coast, and more in regions across the country.

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Contacts

Media may contact:

Luca Bonifacio-Proietto
Press Secretary
Office of the Secretary of State (Canada Revenue Agency and Financial Institutions)
luca.bonifacio-proietto@fin.gc.ca

Media Relations
Department of Finance Canada
mediare@fin.gc.ca
613-369-4000

General enquiries

Phone: 1-833-712-2292
TTY: 613-369-3230
E-mail: financepublic-financepublique@fin.gc.ca

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2025-11-08