Minister Garneau announces the $2.1B Trade and Transportation Corridors Initiative to support Canadian business and spur job creation

July 4, 2017          Ottawa, Ontario          Transport Canada

In celebrating its 150^th anniversary this year, Canada is marking a long history of trade and recognizing the major role that transportation has played in growing our economy and supporting Canada’s middle-class.

The Honourable Marc Garneau, Minister of Transport, today announced $2.1 billion for the Trade and Transportation Corridors Initiative (TTCI) to build stronger, more efficient transportation corridors to international markets. The TTCI investments will support the creation of good jobs now, and by transporting goods more efficiently to market, Canadian businesses will be able to better compete, grow and create even more jobs well into the future.

The core element of the TTCI is the merit-based National Trade Corridors Fund (NTCF), which will provide $2 billion over 11 years to strengthen Canada’s trade infrastructure, including ports, waterways, airports, roads, bridges, border crossings, rail networks and the interconnectivity between them. With the launch of this fund, proponents are being invited to submit an expression of interest for funding to support projects that address urgent capacity constraints and keep goods moving efficiently along Canada’s trade corridors.

Up to $400 million of the NTCF will be dedicated to support the critical movement of people and goods in Canada’s Northern territories, given that region’s unique and urgent needs.

Minister Garneau also announced two additional initiatives under the TTCI:

• $50 million over 5 years to work with key partners to stay on top of new disruptive transportation technologies in order to update rules and regulations for UAVs and connected and automated vehicles; and
• $50 million over 11 years to launch a Trade and Transportation Information System, to be implemented by a new Canadian Centre on Transportation Data, to have access to high-quality, timely and accessible information on our transportation system.