Transport Canada to Invest C$17MM on Supply Chain Initiatives

“By digitalizing information and streamlining processes, we are helping our supply chain become more efficient by shipping goods faster, and more efficiently while making them more affordable to Canadians who need them,” Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra reported in an Oct. 13 video message on Twitter.

The government of Canada will spend C$17 million over five years on new actions that will “ease supply chain regulations and make it easier to ship goods” across the rail, marine and air transportation modes, Transport Canada reported on Oct. 13.

The $17 million investment will go toward initiatives such as:

• Amending the Canada Transportation Act to allow Transport Canada to offer digital service delivery to transportation operators across modes.
• Collaborating with industry to develop an approach to eliminate paperwork and shift to the use of electronic shipping documents for the transportation of dangerous goods via road, rail and air.
• Working toward a Maritime Single Window, “a uniform system that would enable digital information exchange between all stakeholders regarding vessel arrivals, departures and stays,” according to Transport Canada.
• Launching Pre-load Air Cargo Targeting (PACT) to improve the security of air cargo through the supply chain.

“As part of Supply Chain Week, today’s [Oct. 13] announcement is about ensuring that goods are able to be shipped more easily to where they need to go by cutting red tape and streamlining regulations across our supply chain,” Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra said. “Our government made a commitment in Budget 2022 to invest C$17 million to streamline regulations across our supply chain, and that’s exactly what we are doing through these new initiatives. This is a first step towards addressing the recommendations provided by the National Supply Chain Task Force in their final report to our government, and we will continue to take steps to ease congestion and prevent disruptions across our supply chains.”

Transport Canada on Oct. 6 reported that Minister Alghabra was reviewing the recently released National Supply Chain Task Force’s final report, which covered easing port congestion; addressing labor shortages and employee retention; establishing a federal Supply Chain Office to unify relevant federal government activities; protecting corridors, border crossings and gateways from disruption; eeveloping a national transportation supply chain strategy; and engaging the U.S. and the provinces and territories to achieve mutual recognition of regulations, polices and processes.