It’s time to add Great Lakes marine capacity

The underutilized St. Lawrence Seaway could remove significant pressure from Ontario’s land-based transportation

With $5B on the table from the feds, the Ontario Marine Council says timing is ideal for the Ford government to stack funds to build marine capacity through the Great Lakes.

Players throughout the supply chain are working to increase business.

“If you’ve got a $5B federal fund, the time is now to invest provincially so you can stack the dollars,” says Jason Card, executive director of the OMC. He says traffic on the Seaway could double without having to add “any new infrastructure.”

In a May visit to Queen’s Park, the OMC asked the province for funding to help secure some of those federal dollars, and funding to help train more mariners as an estimated 30 per cent are expected to retire in the next three years.

“We did come away with some confidence that there would be some actions taken by the Ontario government, but we need those to bear out within the course of this year,” says Card. He says more than 80 per cent of what Ontario business and consumers need comes to them by vessel.

Industry is doing its part. This week a Picton Terminals official was at Breakbulk Rotterdam working to attract more business to the Prince Edward County port.

With agricultural products comprising 40 per cent of all seaway trade, the St. Lawrence Seaway’s overall traffic was virtually unchanged last year as massive crops of agricultural commodities shipped via the lakes saved the day when shipments of other commodities lagged because of disputes with the U.S.

“Canadian grain is actually filling in the gaps that were left in the global supply through the Russia Ukraine conflict,” points out Card. A “phenomenal amount of grains are moving to world markets through the conduit that is our industry,” and the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway.

He says there’s a policy shift which has resulted in a “dedicated effort now to move truck traffic on to ships just to deal with transportation issues.”

John Grech, the director of commercial development at Picton Terminals, told the House of Commons Transport, Infrastructure and Communities committee in April that the underutilized St. Lawrence Seaway could remove significant pressure from Ontario’s land-based transportation. He said some of that $5B could be funneled to “build a more balanced, resilient and efficient port system that reflects where Canadians live, where goods move and where future growth will occur. “

Supporting seaway traffic could open up other international shipping opportunities, reducing dependency on the U.S., he added.

“If you want to move stuff effectively, efficiently in the most sustainable manner possible, you move it by marine... Our argument is there’s a lot of things that can happen on the water to move traffic more effectively if you invest in the ports and you enable the trade,” Grech said during his testimony.

With increasingly congested roads, Grech told the House committee, “Marine transportation is the natural relieve valve,” and “Picton Terminals is ready to play its part.”

He called for Canada Border Services agents to be located at more inland ports so they could receive containerized cargo. Increasingly, Grech said, Canada relies on U.S. ports. He said with CBSA staff on site, border ports such as at Picton, Goderich, Windsor and Johnstown, could receive containers, saving thousands of highway miles.

Grech said Picton Terminals once offered to cover the cost of CBSA manpower.

He said one ship destined for Picton, had to be rebuffed three days prior to arrival because CBSA agents could not attend.

Atul Sharma of Toronto Port Authority had previously explained that the port eliminates roughly

51,000 trucks from congested roads and highways as it brings in over two million metric tons of bulk materials. He too said that bringing containers to where the goods are actually required builds local resilience.

Grech told the committee there is demand to export agriproducts through containerization. He said Picton Terminal is expecting 20-25 ships this year with a possibility of receiving 60.

Eric Harvey, president and CEO of the Railway Association of Canada told the committee that it takes one quarter the amount of gas to transport the same volume by ship.

The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation’s year end Traffic tally shows that total cargo dipped just .04 per cent last year, largely on the strength of an almost 10 per cent increase in the amount of grain shipped - up 1M tonnes from a year previous. General cargo including aluminum dipped by almost 1M tonnes.

Grain Farmers of Ontario says grain volumes on the lakes remain strong and the Seaway is “an important transportation corridor,” to moving grain efficiently to domestic and overseas customers.

Card said grain terminal expansion “is massively important to the Ontario grain farmers.”

While the province’s marine strategy includes four pillars, the OMC representatives focused on two asks during their May Queen’s Park visit. They included funding to shore up Georgian College’s Centre for Marine Training and Research excellence, and $1M annually for OMC members to create proposals that meet the Federal criteria and “successfully draw down on that trade corridors fund.” Card said the funding could help engage consultants to rapidly prepare packages “that would enable Ontario to get ahead and secure its share.”

The OMC points out the impending shortage of mariners needs to be counter-balanced with an influx of talent. The only Ontario school generating that talent is Georgian College.

Georgian has tailored its programming to get students gaining experience on the water quickly. Its simulators help cadets to learn, but they can cost $.3$.4M annually to maintain up-to-date licensing and software. A graduate of the four-year program can progress from deckhand to captain in between 10 to 14 years, and an annual paycheque of $300-$400,000.

The province has already included infrastructure and economic development enhancements in it’s own marine strategy. It has created an internal marine office to be the intermediary between government and the industry. Card said OMC is looking for it to improve cooperation and data tracking “to make sure that we’ve got a good information about what’s moving because that can inform investment decisions.”

Card says 90 per cent of Ontario goods are transported by sea and with increased ice-breaking capacity, and a longer season, more shippers would be interested in using the waterway.

The federal government’s $5B Trade Diversification Corridors fund was created to diversify Canada’s ability to export goods beyond the United States and OMC asked the province to ensure explicit recognition of marine transportation infrastructure as an eligible priority.

Ontario’s Marine Transportation Strategy was lobbying for a long-term MTO led marine data initiative to develop a centralized marine data portal, conduct an economic impact study and integrate marine data into infrastructure planning.

The provincial government’s own marine strategy encompasses a vision to link railways and roads to the marine sector.

Ontario is home to 23 ports but the OMC website says Ontario lags behind global competitors in shipbuilding, short-sea shipping, marine tourism, multimodal connectivity and other marine sectors.

Quebec has implemented the Quebec Maritime Strategy and several American states have robust industrial port strategies while Michigan has an active Ports Facilities Improvement Grant and the Marine and Ports Facilities Improvement Office. Ontario is missing the boat.

The OMC points out that Thunder Bay exports 8 Million metric tons annually from Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Ontario farmers alone generate over $4B in production value.