Good morning and thank you, Mr. Chair and honourable members. It's a pleasure to be appearing again before the standing committee. This is my first time, actually, in person.
On behalf of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, I would like to thank you for the opportunity to provide comment on the committee's study on large port infrastructure expansion projects in Canada.
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce is the country's largest business association, with an active network of over 400 chambers of commerce and boards of trade, representing nearly 200,000 businesses of all sizes in all sectors and regions of our country.
As a trading nation, it's safe to say that trade infrastructure matters more to Canada than it does to many other countries around the world. In fact, two out of every three dollars that Canada makes rely on moving goods. This is significantly higher than the OECD average of just over 50%. Simply put, Canada needs to continue to invest in trade infrastructure, including large port infrastructure expansion projects. Without focusing on these projects, we will not be able to get goods such as food, fuel, fertilizer, and critical minerals to market. Without focusing on these projects, we risk becoming less competitive. Without focusing on these projects, we risk not being able to grow our economy.
Canada's supply chains are only as strong as their weakest link. While we are seeing improvements, supply chain issues remain a key obstacle to growth for business. According to the most recent Statistics Canada's Canadian survey on business conditions, one-quarter of businesses are still identifying supply chain challenges as a key concern and one they expect to persist further into 2023.
As we eagerly await budget 2023 to be tabled by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance later today, the message the business community is looking to hear is related to economic growth. Enhancing our trade infrastructure is a key ingredient that will support growing our economy. In the time remaining, please allow me to dig into this a little further.
If Canada is looking to grow its economy, we need to see long-term investment in Canada's trade infrastructure, including not just our marine ports, as they are only a part of the chain, but also the railways, airports and road systems supporting it all. Businesses need to be able to get their goods to market efficiently and reliably. We can't simply look to address the needs of today. There are challenges and opportunities we see 20 and 30 years from now.
There is a need for funding projects to support redundancy in critical infrastructure to reduce risk of critical failures in supply chains—for example, building new pipelines, bridges, railroads, marine ports and airports. Some of these investments should include investing in projects that will expand rail in high-congested areas, which includes bridge capacity, industrial lands around airports and ports, to sustain trade growth.
While the government is not solely responsible for infrastructure investments, its leadership is critical. A federal commitment to major, strategic long-term investments is key to building Canada's trade infrastructure. The government's national trade corridors fund is a positive step forward. While it is supporting worthwhile projects in the key areas above, the government must work to increase the speed at which projects receive funding. Too often projects are stalled due to inefficiencies. It must work with business on ensuring transparency for projects and by continuing to demonstrate how funding is helping address supply chain challenges both today and tomorrow.
Another critical step forward is developing a vision for Canada's trade corridors. Trade corridors are key to this transportation of goods. The government must look to work with business to develop new gateway strategies, including those for western, St. Lawrence and Arctic gateways. Each corridor strategy would lay out how government would work with the provinces, the private sector, communities and indigenous peoples to identify capacity challenges facing our corridor transportation system and develop a pipeline of actionable solutions.
Lastly, we need government to commit to accelerating its regulatory modernization agenda. Regulatory effectiveness is integral to a competitive environment and requires regulating smarter to attract new economic opportunities to Canada. Regulatory uncertainty and changing expectations in the regulatory process are a poisoned pill to those looking to invest billions of dollars developing new pipelines, new mines and other large-scale, nation-building infrastructure projects. We need predictable timelines to encourage capital investment. It can't take a decade to approve infrastructure projects. In this sense, streamlining the regulatory process and adopting strict timelines for approving major infrastructure projects are essential and long overdue.
Thank you again for the opportunity to address the committee. I look forward to your questions.