Canada to invest $12M to help ease traffic across trade corridors

The Canadian government is investing $12 million to improve supply chain efficiency and alleviate delays at major port of entries.

Parliamentary Secretary Vance Badeway made the announcement Wednesday near the Peace Bridge, a major border crossing, in Fort Erie.

Of the $12 million in funding, $5 million will be distributed locally to the Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority to install non-intrusive inspection technologies that will speed up processing times for commercial vehicles at the Canada-U.S. border.

“Our trade relationship with the U.S. is vital to strengthening our international trade performance and the prosperity of our middle class,” MP Vance Badawey said during the conference.

“This project will expand fluidity by reducing wait times for trucks entering the U.S. from Canada, including Niagara’s multi-modal network that is within a one day’s drive of over 44 per cent of North America’s annual income.”

In 2023, nearly a million commercial vehicles crossed the Peace Bridge every month. The new technology is being used to cut down processing time for commercial trucks.

Steve Foxcroft is the vice president of the Hamilton trucking company Fluke Transport, who have provided shipping services since 1920 and he says they are looking forward to the new process with expedited document processing for their truckers.

“That one hour process is no longer in place, it’s so very important to us and it will be efficient.”

In addition to upgrades slated for the Peace Bridge crossing, several other key transportation hubs across the country will also receive funding.

Within Ontario, $149,000 has been set aside for two other infrastructure projects.

The City of Toronto’s Economic Development Program will receive $74,500 towards repairing and upgrading the dock walls in the Port of Toronto.

Another $75,000 will be injected into the City of North Bay for a feasibility study aimed at improving trade through the region’s trade corridor.

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The rest of the money will be split between the province of British Columbia, Newfoundland and Labrador and a private company that deals primarily with software development in relation to trade.

B.C. will receive $675,000 for a study focusing on the province’s Moray Bridge.

The St. John’s Port Authority in Newfoundland and Labrador will receive $4.2 million for wharf redevelopment projects that tackle the increasing demand for inshore fishing vessels needing service.

The leftover $2 million will go to BlueNode Inc., a private software company that focuses on developing artificial intelligence that can improve supply chain management across the nation.

The National Trade Corridors Fund is a federal program that aims to improve infrastructure projects that facilitate trade across Canada.

Motorists are expected to see an improvement in traffic flow next fall when the project is complete.

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