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Canada charts transportation routes beyond U.S.
Proposed reforms focus on ports and corridors that serve Europe and Asia
Steven MacKinnon, Canada’s minister of transport. (Kamara Morozuk/Bloomberg)
Key Takeaways:
- Canada introduced legislation Sept. 22 to complete federal project reviews within a year and streamline transportation infrastructure approvals.
- The reforms support trade diversification by improving east-west corridors linking resources to Pacific and Atlantic ports, Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon said.
- Parliament must pass the bill, which would designate national trade corridors, overhaul port governance and ease regulations for lower-risk infrastructure.
Canada’s need to expand trade with Europe and Asia is a driving force behind a major new package of regulatory and permitting reforms, the country’s transportation minister said.
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government unveiled legislation Sept. 22 that aims to speed up project approvals so that federal reviews are completed within a year. But it also included a large set of reforms aimed specifically at transportation projects and removing red tape on their construction.
“It’s really inspired by this imperative to diversify our overseas markets, to diversify away from the United States,” Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon said, alluding to the tariffs and other trade disruptions imposed by President Donald Trump.
“There’s a very discernible east-west pattern in this, when we talk about corridors,” he said.
The legislation, which still needs to be passed in Parliament, allows for the designation of “national trade corridors” that will have performance metrics to prevent bottlenecks and improve efficiency.
It overhauls the governance system for Canada’s ports, allowing them to pursue more private investment and modernize their operations with better technology.
The bill also aims to speed up approvals and remove some regulatory hurdles for lower-risk infrastructure, such as smaller bridges and rail connections.
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A cargo ship is berthed near the Jacques Cartier Bridge at the Port of Montreal. (Christinne Muschi/Bloomberg)
MacKinnon said the measures are especially focused on western Canada and getting its resources — including energy, food and critical minerals — to Pacific Ocean ports in Vancouver and Prince Rupert.
“We spend a lot of time considering that corridor because of its centrality in any kind of export development with respect to Asia,” he said.
The minister also pointed to the St. Lawrence Seaway — a system of rivers, canals and locks that connects the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean — as infrastructure that could be developed further to improve trade with Europe.
“We have a seaway that is not running at capacity,” MacKinnon said. The government is also working on adding container shipping facilities in Hamilton, Ontario, and relieving rail and highway congestion around the Great Lakes, he said.
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There are also opportunities for more shipping in northern Canada, though those tend to be longer term and in some cases require ice-breaking capacity, MacKinnon said. Most of the discussion centers on a small port in Churchill, Manitoba, that sits on Hudson Bay and ships some grain and zinc concentrate.
“We’re very intrigued by the potential there,” MacKinnon said. “Churchill absolutely can become a place with real potential as the prairies’ own Atlantic port.”
He pointed to opportunities for critical minerals and energy exports but added there are still significant infrastructure and geological challenges in the region, including the need to shore up the rail line to carry heavy loads over the waterlogged muskeg landscape.
