Transport Canada Awards C$8.7MM in Grants

Transport Canada has awarded C$8.7 million in grants to four projects under the National Trade Corridors Fund, including one that will increase capacity between Canadian Pacific and the Port of Vancouver; the agency is also seeking more supply chain improvement proposals under the same grant program.

The National Trade Corridors Fund is a competitive grant program that “supports improvements to Canada’s roads, rail, air and marine shipping routes to foster domestic and international trade,” according to Transport Canada.

On December 10, Transport Canada announced that three Vancouver Fraser Port Authority projects will receive C$7.4 million in funding. They are as follows:

1. An engineering study to improve capacity along a rail line that connects Canadian Pacific’s intermodal and rail yards in metro Vancouver to grain and container terminals in the Port of Vancouver’s South Shore Trade Area.
2. The development and application of technology to improve the management of containers identified for inspection in the Pacific Gateway, resulting in increased efficiency and lower operating costs.
3. The Gateway Transportation Collaboration Forum Secretariat will receive funding to continue its work, which brings together a number of governmental and commercial entities to identify gateway infrastructure priorities in Metro Vancouver.

According to Transport Canada, the National Trade Corridors Fund would also invest C$1.3 million in the “creation of a digital platform for procuring and managing empty shipping containers.”