The Government of Canada invests in transportation infrastructure improvements at the Port of Prince Rupert to help move Canadian goods to market Français
PRINCE RUPERT, BC, Nov. 7, 2018 /CNW/ - The quality of Canada's transportation infrastructure and the efficiency of the country's trade corridors are key to the success of Canadian firms in the global marketplace. The Government of Canada supports infrastructure projects that create quality middle-class jobs and boost economic growth.
Today, Terry Beech, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport and Member of Parliament for Burnaby North—Seymour, on behalf of the Honourable Marc Garneau, Minister of Transport, announced a major investment of $21.9 million for three projects at the Port of Prince Rupert that will help local businesses compete by strengthening the Prince Rupert gateway and by making investments in port infrastructure that will support future increases in Canadian trade through the Port.
With an investment of $3.2 million, the first project consists of designing tracks and bridges to replace the existing single-track Zanardi Rail Bridge. The bridge is located at the north end of the Ridley Island causeway at the rail entrance to Port of Prince Rupert properties. Canadian National railway's northern mainline crosses the bridge to transport goods to and from all terminals in the Port of Prince Rupert. This design project is the first step in project implementation. Once constructed, the project will help to reduce delays and improve the flow of trade.
With an investment of $3.7 million, the second project involves designing new rail tracks that serve new terminals and the new logistics park being proposed for the Port of Prince Rupert. By leveraging and expanding the existing Road Rail Utility Corridor development platform on Ridley Island, new development sites will be connected to the Canadian National railway mainline. The Road Rail Utility Corridor, used by many commercial industries in the area, was built specifically to enable future development of bulk export terminals from Ridley Island. When constructed, this project would also help to reduce delays, increase overall terminal capacity and improve the flow of trade.
Provincial, territorial and municipal governments, Indigenous groups, not-for-profit and for-profit private-sector organizations, federal Crown Corporations, Canadian Port Authorities, and National Airport System Airport Authorities are all eligible for funding under the National Trade Corridors Fund.
This investment is in addition to $15 million committed to the Prince Rupert Port Authority for an Asia-Pacific Gateway initiative to support the construction of a two-lane road that will connect the Fairview Container Terminal to Ridley Island. Construction is scheduled to start at the beginning of 2019.
The project is expected to have significant economic and employment benefits by creating an estimated 100 jobs during the construction.
Once completed, by eliminating the need for trucks to travel through the downtown and the populated areas of Prince Rupert, the Connector Road project will separate truck movements from community pedestrian areas and private vehicle traffic flows. The project will also reduce travel times from the Fairview Container Terminal to the Ridley Industrial Site from nearly 30 minutes to 8 minutes, and will also reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
"Transportation and distribution of goods are a vital part of our local, regional and national economies. The investment announced here today will make our transportation system stronger by addressing urgent capacity constraints at the Port of Prince Rupert and fostering long-term prosperity for our community."
Terry Beech
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport and Member of Parliament for Burnaby North—Seymour
"Our government is investing in Canada's economy by making improvements to our trade and transportation corridors. We are supporting projects that will efficiently move commercial goods to market and people to their destinations, stimulate economic growth, create quality middle-class jobs, and ensure that Canada's transportation networks remain competitive and efficient."
The Honourable Marc Garneau
Minister of Transport
Quick Facts
- Canadian National railway connects Prince Rupert to North America through its 'coast-to-coast-to-coast' rail network—5.8 kilometres of on-dock rail capacity provides for fast and efficient train loading and unloading operations.
- In 2017, the Port of Prince Rupert handled 24 million tons of cargo, representing over $35 billion worth of international trade. The Port has six terminals that ship vital Canadian exports such as grain, steelmaking coal, forest products, biofuel, and many other products via both bulk and containerized transportation modes.
- Transportation is an important element of Canada's trade with other countries. In 2017, total international merchandise trade amounted to $1.1 trillion. The United States continued to be Canada's top trade partner, with $703 billion in trade ($415 billion exported, $288 billion imported), accounting for 63.5 per cent of total Canadian trade in 2017.
- The Government of Canada places a strong emphasis on exports because of the connection between trade and good, well-paying jobs, as industries that are export-intensive pay wages that are, on average, more than 50 per cent higher than industries that are not.
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Backgrounder
National Trade Corridors Fund
The $2 billion National Trade Corridors Fund is one component of the $180 billion Investing in Canada Plan, the Government of Canada's strategy for addressing long-term infrastructure needs in Canada and supporting middle-class growth and well-paying jobs. The quality of Canada's transportation infrastructure and the efficiency of the country's trade corridors is key to the success of Canadian firms in the global marketplace.
The Government of Canada is providing support for well-functioning trade corridors that will allow Canadians to compete in key global markets and trade more efficiently with international partners. It represents a long-term commitment by the Government of Canada to work with stakeholders on strategic infrastructure projects that help to address transportation bottlenecks, vulnerabilities and congestion along Canada's trade corridors.
The National Trade Corridors Fund is also a key element of Transportation 2030, the Minister of Transport's strategic plan for the future of transportation. The development of this vision, including the National Trade Corridors Fund, has been informed by extensive engagement with Canadians from coast to coast to coast, along with insights contained in the 2015 Canada Transportation Act Review report.
The National Trade Corridors Fund is a merit-based program designed to help infrastructure owners and users invest in the critical assets that support economic activity and the physical movement of commercial goods and people in Canada.
A total of $2 billion over 11 years has been allocated for the National Trade Corridors Fund, including up to $400 million in dedicated funding for Northern territorial transportation infrastructure.
Provincial, territorial and municipal governments, Indigenous groups, not-for-profit and for-profit private-sector organizations, federal Crown Corporations, Canadian Port Authorities, and National Airport System Airport Authorities were invited to submit proposals to Transport Canada which were then evaluated against the eligibility criteria for the program.
Types of projects that meet the eligibility criteria include, for example, ports, airports, roads, railways, intermodal facilities, international bridges and border crossings – assets that are the primary building blocks of the supply chains that enable the physical exchange of goods around the world and also support the critical movement of people and goods in Canada's Northern territories.
In addition to the $2 billion of investments under the National Trade Corridors Fund, the Canada Infrastructure Bank will invest at least an additional $5 billion to address trade and transportation projects.
Associated Links
SOURCE Transport Canada
Delphine Denis, Office of the Honourable Marc Garneau, Minister of Transport, Ottawa, [email protected], 613-991-0700; Media Relations, Transport Canada, Ottawa, [email protected], 613-993-0055
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