Thank you, Mr. Chair and committee members. Thank you for the opportunity to speak today and provide a bit of perspective from a marine transportation context.
The Chamber of Shipping represents the interests of shipowners, agents and service providers responsible for moving people and commodities globally to and from Canada. Commercial shipping results in $30 billion of economic activity annually, and at 1.8% of the Canadian economy, ships move more than 200 billion dollars' worth of goods to and from global markets. We support significant industries, such as manufacturing, mining, agriculture, construction, energy and tourism.
Overall, there's a sense of optimism regarding the industries that marine transportation supports in the Canadian marketplace and for Canada's efforts to stabilize, expand and diversify our international markets. Notwithstanding that, there are some concerns from marine transportation companies regarding Canada's supply chain. Its regulatory framework has become overly complex and at times unpredictable. Our supply chain is becoming less competitive and suffers from challenges of efficiency and productivity.
In certain instances, cargo destined for Canada is being diverted to the United States as a result of limited berth capacity. A shortage of new industrial land, together with continuous growth in cargo volumes, creates an operating environment that demands a high level of coordination to maximize efficiencies and berth utilization.
For Canada to be a preferred trading partner globally, we must ensure that our supply chain is fluid and resilient in order to handle the increasing volume of cargo and people through our coastal gateways in a sustainable manner. The Transportation 2030 vision is a solid strategic plan, and with the tools provided in the new Transportation Modernization Act, Transport Canada has started the process of identifying key performance indicators for the supply chain.
We encourage that work on the supply chain visibility pilot project to continue, and to be expanded to include all commodities and key partners. This work will help to identify data gaps, constraints and areas for improved productivity.
While a significant effort is under way to better understand performance metrics, it's important to recognize that trade corridors should include marine transportation. This is not always the case in Canada. Through the oceans protection plan, progress has been made on elements of the marine safety framework and coastal protection. When it comes to marine transportation, supply chain fluidity and protecting the environment must go hand in hand. Continued investment in ocean science, adoption of new technology and marine training programs under the oceans protection plan should be a priority.
I'd also like to echo the comments of Mr. Wilson in the earlier session in his request of support funding for programs like the ECHO program to protect marine mammals. Canada needs a whole-of-government approach through a coordinated body that is responsible for overseeing supply chain performance and providing advice on infrastructure investments and on recovery or mitigation strategies when appropriate.
The overarching goal would be to ensure that all commodities have a reasonable probability of getting to market in a timely and cost-effective manner. We encourage a review of the suite of regulations, policies and procedures that affect marine transportation, many of which no longer serve their intended purpose or have become ineffective and cumbersome. This should include a review of jurisdictional boundaries between federal departments, which have become increasingly confusing to ship operators. This type of effort is under way in the United States, and we must ensure that our gateways remain competitive.
The national transportation strategy must drive innovation that makes our marine transportation framework nimble and adaptable so that it can fully support the coastal protection initiatives while remaining competitive. Understanding Canada's supply chain holistically is essential to our economic competitiveness. This can be enabled with a continued and accelerated investment in identifying, collecting and integrating supply chain data. Good data will facilitate improved decision-making at every level of both the private and public sectors.
As ports play a vital role in facilitating trade in our gateways, they need to be continuously striving for increased throughput, innovative management of vessels and cargo operations, and peak levels of productivity from a highly skilled workforce. It is not clear yet if the ports modernization review will take a holistic examination of Canadian ports and benchmark them to other competing ports. This should also be a priority.
The health and protection of Canada's coastal waters is critical to the success of Canada's marine transportation corridors, and therefore a top priority for our member companies. A robust coastal protection regime should also provide for an equally strong and predictable operating environment for commercial marine transportation companies.
The Government of Canada should continue to advance the oceans protection plan and now begin to facilitate a more holistic approach to coastal protection that includes the integration of risk and impact assessment, risk mitigation and planning for sustainable growth.
Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you. We look forward to answering your questions.