Minister of Transport announces new grain terminal equipment in the Port of Montréal during Supply Chain Week

News release

October 12, 2022                   Montreal (Quebec)                      Transport Canada

The Government of Canada is committed to ensuring that our supply chains are efficient and reliable to support economic growth in Quebec and across Canada, create good jobs and address the rising cost of living.

Today, the Minister of Transport, the Honourable Omar Alghabra, and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport, Annie Koutrakis, announced an investment of up to nearly $8 million for DG CanEst Transit Inc. to update existing infrastructure and purchase new equipment for its facilities located in the Port of Montréal. The funding was provided under the National Trade Corridors Fund.

The project, worth a total of $18 million, will increase the number of containers stored onsite, improve the quality of the grain-cleaning service, optimize traffic flow in the yard, and increase capacity for loading and handling containers. This will ensure critical Canadian goods, like grain and other agriproducts, can continue to be shipped reliably for import and export.

On October 6, 2022, the Minister of Transport welcomed the final report of the Supply Chain Task Force. The Government of Canada is committed to responding with immediate action and long-term initiatives. One of the issues identified by the Task Force is that the high volume of containers arriving at Canadian ports has clogged the transportation supply chain due to insufficient warehousing and reduced transloading capacity. Today's funding announcement is a step towards addressing capacity constraints and infrastructure pressures at the Port of Montreal.

Strengthening our transportation supply chain is part of the Government of Canada’s strategy to respond to the rising cost of living and to put money back in the pockets of Quebecers and all Canadians. An efficient and resilient transportation supply chain is key to expanding our economic capacity and productivity and will drive long-term growth. 

Quotes

“The quality of our transportation infrastructure and the efficiency of our trade corridors are crucial to Canada’s economic success. Our government’s investment in DG CanEst Transit Inc.’s facilities will help ensure that the supply chains here in Quebec and throughout our country remain efficient and reliable.”

The Honourable Omar Alghabra
Minister of Transport

“The entire world looks to Canada to support food security around the globe. Port infrastructure is critical for the continuous flow of commercial trade and our government will continue to support initiatives like CanEst Transit as they help with the export of Canadian agricultural products.”

The Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau
Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food 

“We must continue to work towards well-functioning supply chains. Canada’s ports are important supply chain hubs, connecting coastlines to inland markets where goods are shipped by railway and trucks. This funding for DG CanEst Transit Inc., operating in the Port of Montréal, will help build more resilient and efficient supply chains.”

Annie Koutrakis
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport 

"We are delighted with this considerable investment, which will have an undeniable positive impact on the supply chain, and the favorable repercussions that will be felt even on farms in the Prairies, Ontario and all of Quebec. Support from the Government of Canada enables the Port of Montreal's ecosystem to become more efficient, to the benefit of all the communities we serve from our facilities. In the end, everyone wins."

Martin Imbleau
President and Chief Executive Officer of the Montreal Port Authority

“Today represents a significant milestone for the Canadian agri-food industry and builds upon the reputation of quality and reliability that we have worked so hard to establish with our partners. If the past two years have revealed anything to us, they have demonstrated the importance of the supply chain, which has only deepened our commitment to streamlining the export process. We are honoured to be entrusted with funding that will not only improve our infrastructure and capacity to serve both established and emerging markets around the globe, but will also continue to showcase Canada’s unparalleled contributions and growth to the agriculture-based economy.”

Marc-Aurel Clapperton
General Manager, DG CanEst Transit Inc.

Quick facts

  • Supply Chain Week builds on the National Supply Chain Summit held in January 2022, where a broad range of supply chain stakeholders discussed challenges, strategies, and next steps to enable a swift recovery of Canada’s transportation supply chains.

  • On October 6, 2022, the Task Force provided the final report to the Minister of Transport. The report contains recommendations on measures that could be considered by government to mitigate both the acute short-term challenges and chronic longer-term strategic issues confronting Canada’s supply chains.

  • The National Trade Corridors Fund is a competitive, merit-based program designed to help infrastructure owners and users invest in the critical transportation assets that support economic activity in Canada.

  • Provincial, territorial, and municipal governments, Indigenous groups, not-for-profit and for-profit private-sector organizations, federal Crown corporations, and academia are all eligible for funding under the National Trade Corridors Fund.

  • Budget 2022 provided $450 million over five years, starting in 2022-23, to support supply chain projects through the National Trade Corridors Fund, which will help ease the movement of goods across Canada’s transportation networks. This additional funding brings the program’s total allocation to $4.6 billion over 11 years (2017-2028).

  • Transport Canada delivers the National Trade Corridors Fund, which supports improvements to Canada’s roads, rail, air, and marine shipping routes to foster domestic and international trade.

  • An efficient and reliable transportation network is key to Canada's economic growth. The Government of Canada, through the National Trade Corridors Fund (NTCF) and the Advancing Industry-Driven Digitalization of Canada’s Supply Chain initiative, is making investments that will support the flow of goods across Canada's supply chains.

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Associated links

Contacts

Nadine Ramadan
Press Secretary and Communications Advisor
Office of the Honourable Omar Alghabra 
Minister of Transport
Nadine.Ramadan@tc.gc.ca

Media Relations 
Transport Canada, Ottawa 
613-993-0055 
media@tc.gc.ca

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