The Canadian government is investing CA$150 million (US$110 million) to develop a new container terminal at the Port of Montreal.
The funds will come from the government’s National Trade Corridors Fund, a program that expects to spend $4.6 billion from 2017 to 2028 on transportation-related projects aimed at bolstering Canada’s trade. The terminal itself will be built within the city of Contrecoeur, Quebec, which is about 40 kilometers upstream (24.9 miles) from the port’s existing facilities.
The terminal will include a 675-meter-long (2,215-feet-long) dock, rail tracks that will connect to Canadian railway CN (NYSE: CNI), a container yard, an access road and operations and administrative buildings, according to Transport Canada’s Tuesday announcement.
The new terminal, which Transport Canada said will help promote operational fluidity at the port, could increase the Port of Montreal’s capacity by 55%. The port’s website said the project, an expansion of existing facilities at Contrecoeur, could increase container capacity there to 1.15 million twenty-foot equivalent units.
The Port of Montreal overall handled 1.72 million TEUs in 2022.
Construction on the terminal could start at the end of 2023, with the terminal’s commissioning slated for the end of 2026.
“The Port of Montreal is an economic driver for the province of Quebec and Montreal, and a key element of our national supply chain. By supporting the Port in its expansion project in Contrecœur, we continue our efforts to strengthen Canada’s supply chain,” said Canadian Minister of Transport and Quebec Lieutenant Pablo Rodriguez. “This is important so that we never again have to go through product shortages like we experienced during the pandemic, or the significant price increases that came along with them.”
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