Transport, Infrastructure and Communities

This House of Commons committee meeting on transport, infrastructure and communities studied how to support, diversify and modernize Canada’s ports to strengthen trade and supply chains. Appearing were Larissa Fenn, Vice-President, Corporate Affairs, Hamilton-Oshawa Port Authority; Ian Marr, President and Chief Executive Officer, Nanaimo Port Authority; and Olga Farman, Chief Executive Officer, Quebec Port Authority.

Larissa Fenn said the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway system is Canada’s industrial heartland but lacks port capacity to meet trade diversification goals. She recommended treating capacity as a national system issue, investing in the seaway network, extending the shipping season with enhanced icebreaking, sustaining Great Lakes containerization, improving Canada’s reliability as a trading partner, and giving port authorities more governance flexibility, including reviewing borrowing limits and subsidiary capitalization. She noted that HOPA has not waited for government action and has grown its network through private partnerships.

Ian Marr said diversifying trade requires fully utilizing current port properties and creating a resilient system supported by short-sea shipping, rail and road. He called for infrastructure funding that reduces congestion and environmental impact while increasing capacity, and for regulatory and legislative changes to the Canada Marine Act, including subsidiary capitalization review to allow partnerships and release balance sheet value. He stressed that modernization must integrate technology with workforce education and labour engagement to improve reliability. He disagreed with the notion that the federal government has been a meaningful contributor, citing five years of regulatory delays that ballooned a project’s cost from $105 million to $160 million.

Olga Farman said the Port of Québec handles 28 million tonnes of goods annually but nearly half its wharves will be over 100 years old by 2040, and a January collapse of wharf 25 illustrated the risk of inaction. She is seeking a federal contribution of $340 million to $380 million for the first phase of a $1.7-billion, 10-year investment plan to rebuild critical infrastructure, warning that 25% of port traffic could disappear without it. She emphasized that the container terminal project with QSL is complementary to other St. Lawrence ports and requires federal designation as an international container terminal, and that the trade diversification corridors fund must be implemented quickly with eligibility for rebuilding assets, not just new ones.

The minister of transport appeared later, stating that Via Rail must improve its customer service and reliability, and that Canada’s ports lag in modernization and automation. He highlighted the $5-billion trade diversification corridors fund and the $1-billion Arctic infrastructure fund, and said the Major Projects Office is processing a full pipeline of transformative projects. He acknowledged that Canada has underinvested in trade-enabling infrastructure and that labour disruptions have damaged Canada’s reliability, and said the government is consulting on bringing more predictability to labour relations in the supply chain. He committed to reforming port governance and financial tools, and to using Canadian steel in federal projects, but did not provide a timeline for specific legislative changes.

A Conservative member gave notice of a motion to invite the Minister of Transport and officials to appear on the Supplementary Estimates (C), 2025-26, for two hours, at least five calendar days before the estimates are reported to the House.