There are a number of initiatives underway to improve Canada’s competitive position and facilitate cross-border business growth. At the recent SCL Annual Meeting, several presenters focused on Canada’s various gateway strategies.

Asia-Pacific Gateway and Corridor Strategy (APGCI)

British Columbia is the focal point of the Asia-Pacific Gateway Strategy. The Province’s major ports, airports, railways, and roadways are a major hub in a supply chain providing many of the goods we consume each day. A consortium of Port Authorities, Industry Associations and Governments at the Federal, Provincial and Regional level oversee the execution of the Strategy.

British Columbia’s ports are the shortest marine links to the economies of the Asia-Pacific. The provinces’ established road, rail and air connections reach deep into the heart of Canadian and US markets. Container traffic to all west coast ports is forecast to rise a staggering 300% by 2020. The Province is looking to the future and planning for that growth.

The Province is building on British Columbia’s natural advantages through the Pacific Gateway Strategy, setting ambitious volume targets for 2020:

- 9 million TEUs in container traffic imports from Asia-Pacific producers (up from 2 million in 2005)
- 95 million tonnes: bulk & break-bulk exports such as forestry products, agricultural products, petroleum products and metals (up from 70 million in 2005)
- 28.4 million air passengers through YVR (up from 16.4 million in 2005)
- 441,000 tonnes of air cargo (up from 223,700 tonnes in 2005)

New and upgraded road, rail, port and airport infrastructure are expected to provide importers with a reliable link in the North American supply chain and exporters with greater access to foreign markets.

Atlantic Gateway Strategy

In October 2007, Ministers Cannon and MacKay signed the Atlantic Gateway Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the four Atlantic provincial governments. The MOU names the Atlantic Gateway Federal/Provincial Officials Committee as the key forum for developing the Atlantic Gateway. The Committee is made up of 10 members (Four Atlantic Provinces, Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) and Transport Canada).

The mandate is to develop an Atlantic Gateway strategy that will benefit the Atlantic region and Canada; and guide the long term planning work and analysis in support of future gateway initiatives. The Committee is charged with identifying key elements of the multi-modal transportation system, which support gateway development; engaging stakeholders to understand private sector needs; identifying the first projects to be delivered; and developing and implementing a work plan.

Ontario-Quebec Continental Gateway and Trade Strategy

In central Canada, the Ontario-Québec Continental Gateway and Trade Corridor Strategy is being undertaken. The central location of Ontario and Quebec’s and the fully integrated transportation system of these two provinces provide a competitive advantage for Canada-U.S. and international trade. Ontario-Québec has easy access to 135 million consumers within 1000 Km – a less than one day truck trip. A trans-continental rail system provides access to major markets in North America. The St. Lawrence Seaway provides access from the Great Lakes to trans-Atlantic shipping. Canada’s busiest airports for freight and passengers are in Ontario and Quebec. They are a key component in just-in-time courier deliveries among other things.

NASCO (North America’s Super Corridor Coalition)

While no representatives from NASCO delivered a presentation at SCL, they did have a booth at the conference. To help address the capacity constraints at the major U.S. ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, California, a non-profit tri-national (Canada, USA and Mexico) organization was formed in 1994. This public-private consortium was established to create a 2,500-mile-long multimodal transportation network linking the three countries, 71 million people and supporting $1 trillion in total business between these countries. The “Super Corridor” stretches from the ports of Mexico (i.e. Lazaro Cardenas, Mazatlan, Manzanillo) to the border crossing of Laredo, Texas, through 11 states, on to Eastern and Western Canada through Detroit’s Ambassador Bridge. This year’s annual NASCO Conference is being held in Quebec City in early June.

To develop the inland network, NASCO formed NAIPN (North America’s Inland Port Network) that includes Alliance (Fort Worth), Texas, Dallas Logistics Hub, KC Logistics Hub, Port San Antonio, Des Moines, Iowa, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Puerto Interior Guanajuatco, Bajio Central Mexico, Interpuerto Monterrey, Proyecto Distrito Multimodal Villa XXI and Durango, Mexico. The main guiding principle of the NAIPN is to develop logistics systems that enhance global security while maintaining the cost effective and efficient flow of goods.

Other Gateway Strategies

In addition to these four well known initiatives, there are a host of other port cities as well as inland ports that have their own gateway strategies. An inland port has been defined by the Center for Transportation Research at the University of Texas as “a physical site located away from traditional land, air and coastal borders with the vision to facilitate and process international trade through strategic investment in multi-modal transportation assets and by promoting value-added services as goods move through the supply chain".

At the SCL Conference one inland port that was highlighted was Edmonton, Alberta. With its access to road, rail and air transportation and its strategic location with respect to Canada’s oil sands, mineral deposits and gas resources, Edmonton could be a major component of Canada’s transportation strategy. To position itself for growth, a multi-modal logistics park is being planned. Other cities in Canada have their own strategies.

Market Driven or Government Driven

It is noteworthy that each of these initiatives appears to be driven by government with industry assistance, but not by shippers. In fact, at one of the SCL lunches, I sat with an individual from one of the Canadian government agencies charged with marketing some of these capabilities. Also, there does not appear that much coordination among the various gateway programs. There was no mention of NASCO by any of the three major Canadian Gateway presenters, all government officials.

While each of these strategies is commendable, the question is whether shippers care about the gateway through which their goods move, in particular U.S. based shippers. For most shippers the issues are transit days, cost and reliability. If a shipper’s freight can reach its destination faster and at a lower cost through the Port of New York, Savannah, Tacoma or Long Beach, that is what is of most concern. If any or all of these gateway/corridor strategies can result in a superior value proposition for shippers, they will succeed. If not, they will be superseded by alternatives that provide more consistent and cost effective transportation. Hopefully these government/industry association partnerships will provide Canada with a superior transportation infrastructure and competitive advantage.