WESTERN PRODUCER — The federal government is determined to diversify trade away from the United States, and the only way that happens is by moving more goods, grain, oilseeds, petroleum, minerals and other products by rail or road to ports.
To help accomplish this mission, the feds have designated four trade corridors that link major production regions to overseas markets.
Of the four, one corridor is clearly the most important, says the president and chief executive officer of Fertilizer Canada.
“I would argue that the Prairies to Vancouver is the No. 1 corridor (that) we need to focus on,” Michael Bourque said from his office in Ottawa.
The federal government has created a Trade Diversification Corridors Fund, which designates four corridors as nationally significant:
- Pacific
- The Prairies
- Central (Ontario/Quebec)
- Atlantic
The Pacific route enables the export of “energy, grain, potash, metals, and minerals produced primarily in the Prairies and Western Canada,” says Transport Canada’s website.
Export data and volume product clearly shows that this corridor is the most significant export route in the country.
“Objectively, the most traffic goes from the Prairies to Vancouver,” Bourque said.
“The data doesn’t lie.”
The Pacific Trade Corridor runs from the Prairies to Canada’s West Coast. Image: Transport Canada
Fertilizer Canada and many industry groups are hopeful that the federal government is serious about improving the Pacific corridor and all trade corridors.
Those same groups support Bill C-39, the Building Canada Strong Act.
The government introduced C-39 in September, saying it will improve and accelerate reviews of major projects, which will give “investors greater certainty to deploy capital.”
Second Narrows bottleneck
Also in September, a busy month for the federal government, Prime Minister Mark Carney unveiled the Productivity Mega Deduction.
It allows firms to write off 100 per cent of the cost of eligible capital investments in the year that they make the investment.
The Second Narrows Rail Bridge in Vancouver is an excellent example of where private capital is needed in the Pacific trade corridor.
The mechanical lift bridge, made from steel, allows ships to pass under when in the up position. When the bridge is down, it’s the only way for trains to access the North Shore grain, potash and coal terminals at Vancouver’s port.
It carries almost one-third of all cargo that annually moves through the Port of Vancouver — 43.7 million tonnes in 2024.
More than 20 groups, representing farmers, fertilizer companies and shippers, are urging Carney to build a second bridge at the same location or replace it.
However, Canadian National Railway owns the bridge, so investing hundreds of millions to replace it isn’t a decision for the prime minister.
Bigger picture, exporting more grain, fertilizer, minerals and products through West Coast ports is more complicated than fixing one bridge in British Columbia’s Lower Mainland.
It will require investments in rail sidings, other bridges and infrastructure that connects the Prairies to ports in Vancouver and Prince Rupert.
However, Bill C-39 and the Mega Deduction proposal should make those investments more likely.
“It is going to enable private capital to be deployed,” Bourque said.
“We know government will spend money…. It’s equally or more important to ensure the private sector is going to deploy capital.”
About the author
Reporter
Robert Arnason is a reporter with The Western Producer and Glacier Farm Media. Since 2008, he has authored nearly 5,000 articles on anything and everything related to Canadian agriculture. He didn’t grow up on a farm, but Robert spent hundreds of days on his uncle’s cattle and grain farm in Manitoba. Robert started his journalism career in Winnipeg as a freelancer, then worked as a reporter and editor at newspapers in Nipawin, Saskatchewan and Fernie, BC. Robert has a degree in civil engineering from the University of Manitoba and a diploma in LSJF – Long Suffering Jets’ Fan.
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