As Canada looks to diversify trade partners and strengthen its position in the global-supply chain, a new Manitoba transport alliance aims to help put all eyes on Manitoba.
In January, the Province of Manitoba, Prairies Economic Development Canada, Arctic Gateway Group (AGG), Winnipeg Airports Authority (WAA) and CentrePort Canada Inc. all signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), touted as the Ports Manitoba Project. The alliance brings together the province’s major air, land and sea transportation assets with the shared goals of expanding access to international markets, increasing trade capacity, attracting international investment and leveraging Manitoba’s central location and access through Hudson Bay.
“Few jurisdictions in North America can offer what we can, including a deep-water Arctic port connected by rail, a major inland trimodal logistics hub and a year-round international cargo airport,” says Chris Avery, president and CEO of AGG, which owns and operates the Port of Churchill and the Hudson Bay Railway. “By coordinating planning, promotion and development, we’re telling Canada that we can move faster, make things easier for our customers and investors and build a more resilient, integrated supply chain right here in Manitoba.”
AGG’s Northern transportation network will be strategically linked with the Winnipeg Richardson International Airport’s year-round air cargo capabilities and CentrePort Canada Inc.’s rail, road and industrial land infrastructure, one of North America’s largest tri-modal inland ports.
“Companies around the world are looking for reliable, resilient supply chains, and Manitoba is ideally positioned to deliver exactly that,” Carly Edmundson, president and CEO of CentrePort Canada Inc. noted at the time of the announcement.
“Improved multi-modal coordination enables a more integrated and resilient trade network. This in turn supports long-term economic opportunity for the province and for Canada,” added Nick Hays, president and CEO of the WAA.
This comes at a critical point as Canada looks to strengthen its Arctic sovereignty and economic interests, which has pushed political attention to the province’s Northern port. Prime Minister Mark Carney has identified the proposed Port of Churchill Plus initiative as one of the federal Major Projects Office’s transformative strategies, outlining plans to improve rail connections, develop an all-weather road, enhance ice-breaking capacity and expand the port’s role in resource exports. The federal government has also committed up to $175 million toward supporting Northern transportation infrastructure linked to the Port of Churchill.
“Building one Canadian economy means working with key partners to strengthen the trade corridors that bring Prairie products to domestic and global markets,” said the Honourable Eleanor Olszewski, Minister of Emergency Management and Community Resilience and Minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada at the MOU’s announcement. “This initiative advances that work and builds on our government’s recent investments in Arctic Gateway Group, the Port of Churchill and CentrePort, which have improved supply-chain efficiency, reduced barriers to interprovincial trade and advanced trade diversification.”
The alliance will aim to provide a single-window access to services, business connections and support for companies that want to invest, while enhancing Foreign Trade Zone access and usage, leveraging the 15 free trade agreements held by Canada, and supporting the ongoing development of the Port of Churchill and Hudson’s Bay Rail Line, CentrePort Canada, and the WAA.
“What this MOU does is send a clear signal to Manitobans and to Canadians that our core trade and transportation assets – North, South, East and West – are working together to meet this moment,” states Avery. “Together, Arctic Gateway Group, CentrePort Canada and the Winnipeg Airports Authority are committing to work with each other, with the Province, and with Canada to take full advantage of the infrastructure Manitoba has to offer, doing so to diversify our trade, to strengthen energy and resource exports, to assert our sovereignty and to advance Indigenous economic reconciliation.”
Moving forward, says Avery, the Ports Manitoba Project’s next phase is already clear: closer coordination on business development, investment attraction and industry engagement.
“Arctic Gateway Group, CentrePort Canada and the Winnipeg Airports Authority are committed to working in lockstep for the benefit of this province and country – bolstering everyone’s economic security.”
