Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good afternoon, everyone.
The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation is a non-profit organization that operates and maintains Canada's seaway infrastructure.
The seaway is a network of locks and canals linking Montreal to Lake Erie, under a long-term agreement with the Government of Canada. The network includes 13 Canadian locks, located in Quebec and Ontario, and two U.S. locks, located in New York State.
While the seaway is not a port, it is part of a larger Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway system that includes ports. Altogether, the system generates $66 billion in economic activity by moving 252 million tonnes of cargo worth $157 billion. It supports more than 350,000 jobs and creates $23.2 billion in wages.
At the wharves of the St. Lawrence Seaway, along the Welland Canal, and in Sainte-Catherine, Quebec, ships load and unload cargo, supplies and fuel, and undergo crew and pilot changes. Our multi-user wharf in Sainte-Catherine is fully leased and supports the berthing of four vessels. Of the more than 13 wharves along the Welland Canal, the majority are leased and in service.
We have recently completed dredging at wharf 10 in the city of Welland and have dredged and rehabilitated wharf 7 near the multimodal connection in the city of Thorold. We are moving ahead with private partners, and commodities will soon be moving at both locations.
Wharf 18, located at Port Colborne, is a shovel-ready, multimodal infrastructure project. It will add one million tonnes of cargo-handling capacity and open new cruise ship berthing to boost regional tourism.
The project received $22.6 million from the national trade corridors fund, but requires additional funding to begin construction. We are advocating for complementary support from the Province of Ontario, along with contributions from private partners and operators.
In 2025, 37 million tonnes of goods passed through our locks and canals to domestic and international markets. Key commodities include grain, fertilizer, iron ore, steel, aluminum, cement, project cargo, road salt and liquid bulk, including petroleum products.
The St. Lawrence Seaway has the capacity to immediately double its volume. Moving more goods by sea can help relieve congestion on already busy roads and rail systems. A Seawaymax vessel can carry the equivalent of 300 freight cars or close to 1,000 trucks.
To capitalize on this corridor, we propose a project called the “inland advantage”. There is a clear opportunity to scale the impact of the seaway and expand the strategic value of the infrastructure already in place.
What we offer is divided into three parts. First, reintroduce containerized short-sea shipping between Halifax, Montreal and the Great Lakes via the seaway. Second, move energy via the seaway to domestic and international markets to strengthen Canada's global competitiveness and support climate-aligned infrastructure by diversifying export routes. Third, make the seaway an even more resilient marine corridor for winter operations.
We welcome the new trade diversification corridors fund and its approach. The recent closure of the navigation season last January reminded us that investments are essential not only to extend the navigation season, but also to ensure reliable operations in the months of December, March and April.
The seaway is one of the original nation-building projects. We have a deep history and a future filled with possibilities. By maximizing active wharf capacity on the seaway, increasing resiliency to extend the navigation season and expanding container and energy movements, the St. Lawrence Seaway will help diversify and modernize Quebec's and Canada's broader coastal and inland port network.
As the federal Minister of Transport mentioned earlier this week at the official opening of our 68th navigation season, “a modern, dependable seaway strengthens Canada's position as a reliable trading nation.”
Thank you.