Thank you, Sophie.
Good morning, everyone.
With regard to healthy infrastructure, all port authorities share the huge challenge of maintaining and optimizing aging infrastructure.
Maintaining docks and piers, optimizing our rail network and direct road access to the port, and developing new terminals are all projects that have been or must be carried out, and the investments required far exceed the revenues that we, as a port authority, can generate.
Financial assistance from private partners is mission critical, as it is from the various levels of government, except their assistance varies according to the programs in place.
We recommend the creation of a dedicated fund to optimize port infrastructures, attributable based on performance and environmental protection criteria.
With regard to innovation, the digital shift is happening globally and is forcing companies to adapt and innovate. Our role as a port authority puts us in a strategic position to provide digital solutions and to create value for our partners in their decision-making process.
The Port of Montreal already has several initiatives under way for this, and we can talk more about them later in our discussions.
We also recommend the creation of a national program and an innovation fund to help ports take the digital leap and give them the tools to do so. For ports to have a common strategy and to make Canada more competitive, dialogue and digital transformation must be managed as a whole.
Growing needs and market globalization stimulate trade, but they also raise port capacity issues. This is why, for example, we anticipate very soon the need to expand the port of Montreal by developing a new container terminal at Contrecoeur, Quebec. I'll give you some examples.
The port of Montreal currently has a capacity of roughly two million TEUs. We expect to finish this year at roughly 1.6 million. We anticipate, given the forecast, that we'll probably reach maximum capacity in roughly 2022 or 2023. From our perspective, it's really important that we have the infrastructure to maintain that continued growth. My boss likes to say that she doesn't want to put a “no vacancy” sign in front of the port of Montreal.
This is a major infrastructure project that will require more than $750 million in financing. However, it is a vital project for the economy of Quebec and eastern Canada that will enable local companies to keep trading with the world for decades to come.
For any large-scale port expansion project, we recommend respecting ports' individual skills and having a regional, as well as a national, vision of port development for the benefit of the entire economy of Canada.
We'll answer your questions.
Thank you very much.