Good morning, everyone.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak to you today.
My name is Jacques Paquin and I am the Executive Vice-President of the Port of Trois-Rivières.
The Port of Trois-Rivières is strategically located halfway between Montreal and Quebec City on the St. Lawrence River, and specializes in solid and liquid bulk commodities and general cargo. It handles over four million tonnes of goods and moves 55,000 trucks, 11,000 rail cars and 250 ships per year. It serves businesses located all over in Quebec, Ontario and western Canada and elsewhere in North America. The Port of Trois-Rivières meets the needs of numerous key sectors of the Canadian economy: the manufacturing, agri-food, mining and energy industries.
In 2008, the Port adopted an ambitious modernization plan called “On Course for 2020” that has resulted in $132 million in investments of which 40 per cent is financed by Port users, 37 per cent by the Port itself, and 23 per cent by grants from the Canadian and Quebec governments. The plan was completed in 2017, three years ahead of schedule, and in addition to providing for better integration of the Port into the surrounding urban environment and increasing the productivity of port activities, it has increased the Port's capacity by 40 per cent. This additional capacity is in full use today, and the Port is having to turn away traffic from Canadian shippers that would like to use its services to reach global markets.
That is why, in 2018, the Port launched the On Course for 2030 plan, following on the previous plan. The vision of this plan is to make Trois-Rivières an innovative, sustainable urban port, generating growth, at the heart of a competitive supply chain. Each word in this vision has been carefully chosen and takes shape in precise policies and action plans.
One of the things the Port and its partners are working on is a portfolio of projects totalling over $350 million. State of the art multimodal facilities and storage areas that are adapted to the goods handled comprise the main facilities needed by the Port to achieve its vision and fulfil its role in supply chains.
On this point, the St. Lawrence ports have to deal with circumstances that are unique to them. It is important to recall that the St. Lawrence and Great Lakes region represents the third largest economic space in the world and the highest traffic and most important multimodal corridor in Canada. Increasing the competitive capacity of the St. Lawrence calls for greater cooperation among the ports in order to optimize the use of port facilities, not just in a single port, but also across the system as a whole. That is the context in which collaboration among the St. Lawrence port authorities must be facilitated and expand. The Government of Canada has to create conditions that are favourable for this cooperation.
There are other challenges that ports are facing that will also call for the attention of the Government of Canada. These include reducing greenhouse gas, or GHG, emissions and addressing the labour shortage. The Port of Trois-Rivières subscribes to the government's objectives regarding GHG. One of the best ways for the Port to contribute to this would be to offer electrical hook-ups for ships in port, which would reduce the GHG emitted in the port lands by 50 per cent. However, that requires significant investments. For a port like Trois-Rivières, this is estimated at over $100 million, in addition to the investments already planned. That presents a challenge not just in terms of funding, but also in terms of viability.
On the subject of labour, the ports of Quebec are facing a recruitment and retention challenge that is forcing them to look for innovative solutions. Automation and artificial intelligence are part of those solutions and will call for major investments, along with R&D efforts. To achieve this, the Port of Trois-Rivières, in collaboration with other St. Lawrence ports, has undertaken the creation of a port logistics centre of expertise. We are counting on the Government of Canada to support this initiative by encouraging collaboration among port authorities, but also by providing financial support for the centre's activities.
I can't conclude without mentioning the importance of the relationship between the City and the Port. Because ports are located in urban areas, they have a responsibility to integrate their activities into the surrounding environment. To that end, the Port and the City of Trois-Rivières are working on a redevelopment project for a portion of the port facilities located near the downtown and the historic quarter. The project enjoys a high degree of social acceptance and will be possible provided that the government allows the Port of Trois-Rivières greater agility and flexibility. That means allowing it to carry on activities that are a better fit with this location and will provide the revenue that is necessary for maintaining and optimizing the facilities in question.
Thank you for your attention.