Minister of Transport announces funding in British Columbia to improve rail capacity for the agriculture sector

SURREY, BC, March 17, 2023 /CNW/ - An efficient and reliable transportation system is essential to making life more affordable for Canadians and to combat the rising cost of living. The Government of Canada is committed to ensuring our supply chains grow the economy and create good, middle-class jobs for Canadians, while ensuring they are resilient and adaptive to the impacts of climate change.

Today, the Minister of Transport, the Honourable Omar Alghabra, announced an investment of up to $23 million to Global Agriculture Trans-Loading Inc., under the National Trade Corridors Fund, for a project that will expand rail capacity in Surrey, British Columbia.

With this funding, Global Agriculture Trans-Loading will make several purchases, including:

• a three-track rail spur;
• new container lifts;
• railcar pushers;
• conveyor belt systems; and
• bagging equipment.

These improvements to rail infrastructure and capacity will enable Global Agriculture Trans-Loading to double their operations and help move agricultural products and grain between different modes of transportation more efficiently. By reducing delays and bottlenecks in the transfer process, Canadian agricultural products will reach global markets faster.

The Government of Canada continues to make investments to strengthen our supply chain, promote economic growth, and create more opportunities for Canadian businesses. This represents another long-term commitment to work with stakeholders on strategic infrastructure projects to address transportation bottlenecks, vulnerabilities, and congestion along Canada's trade corridors.

Quotes

"Canadian exporters rely on a strong supply chain. This investment will help reduce delays and bottlenecks while transferring agricultural products from one mode of transportation to another, ensuring Canada's products reach global markets efficiently. It will also help grow our economy and create good, middle-class jobs."

The Honourable Omar Alghabra 
Minister of Transport 

"The reliability of Canada's transportation infrastructure and the efficiency of the country's trade corridors are key to the success of Canadian companies in the global marketplace. This investment will help improve rail capacity and speed up the transloading of products, while creating jobs for the local economy, here in Surrey."

Sukh Dhaliwal
Member of Parliament, Surrey—Newton

"Strengthening our supply chains is integral in making sure Canada's products reach the global market effectively. We are pleased to work with our partners to provide the National Trade Corridors Funding, which will aid in expanding infrastructure and capacity. In doing so, the process of transferring agricultural products between different modes of transportation will be more efficient. The reliability of Canada's transportation relies on this efficiency, and is the key to success of Canadian companies in the global marketplace"

Randeep Sarai
Member of Parliament for Surrey Centre.

"The National Trade Corridor Fund will enable Global Agriculture Transloading (GATL) to double current transload exports of agricultural goods from 750,000 to 1.5 million tonnes of goods within their existing facility site, allowing it to facilitate $1 billion in exports per year. As the Canadian government has recognized, the GATL Expansion Project will alleviate bottlenecks along export routes, decreasing costs and makes Canadian products more competitive abroad.  This project will make GATL an even more valuable connection point between Canadian specialty agriculture export supply chain and rapidly expanding Indo-Pacific and South American markets."

Johnny Sangha
CEO, Global Agriculture Transloading Inc.

Quick Facts  

• The Government of Canada, through the National Trade Corridors Fund, is making investments that will support the flow of goods across 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. A total of $4.7 billion over 11 years (2017-2028) has been allocated to the program.
• Through the National Trade Corridors Fund, Transport Canada is supporting improvements to Canada's roads, rail, air, and marine shipping routes to foster domestic and international trade.
• The National Trade Corridors Fund's Increasing the Fluidity of Canada's Supply Chains call for proposals supports fluid and reliable trade flows between Canada and global markets, as well as internal trade corridors.

Related Product 

National Trade Corridors Fund Backgrounder 

This news release may be made available in alternative formats for persons living with visual disabilities. 

SOURCE Transport Canada

Nadine Ramadan, Press Secretary and Communications Advisor, Office of the Honourable Omar Alghabra, Minister of Transport, Ottawa, [email protected]; Media Relations: Transport Canada, Ottawa, 613-993-0055, [email protected]