CentrePort Canada | Winnipeg
 

Since this development has the potencial to become among the largest in the city's history it deserves to have it own thread.
So Here it is.


Huge chance for 'Peg

Inland port would bring growth, investment, jobs
By CHUCK DAVIDSON



More than a century ago, Winnipeg's population exploded from 25,000 in 1891 to 179,000 just 30 years later.

This was thanks in large part to construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway line, which positioned Winnipeg as the gateway to the West from Eastern Canada.

Back then, transportation opened the door to mass immigration and trade across Canada and Winnipeg was perfectly positioned to reap the benefits. Fast forward to today and Winnipeg could once again reap the economic benefits of our central position, with transportation being the catalyst.

Last week, the Manitoba government introduced legislation that would create CentrePort Canada, a private sector focused corporation that would develop and promote Manitoba's inland port and build on the province's network of air, rail, sea and trucking routes.

The concept of an inland port is actually quite simple. Currently when goods are transported from overseas, they initially arrive at the port in ether Vancouver or Prince Rupert. From there, cargo typically has to be processed before it is shipped to its final destination throughout the continent.




The rationale for an inland port being established in Winnipeg is the processing could take place here because of our central location and established transportation networks.

Simply look at any map and our heart of the continent location reveals we are already positioned along the spine of the mid-continent trade corridor linking Mexico to the Port of Churchill. Further enhancing our case is the fact 80% of rail container traffic originating on the West Coast passes through Winnipeg on its way east.

The economic opportunity is tremendous and would result in growth, investment and jobs for Winnipeg, Manitoba and Canada -- but there is still a lot of work to be done before it becomes reality.

It should also be noted Winnipeg is not alone in attempting to position itself as a major destination for trade and transportation. Cities like Halifax, Sault St. Marie, Regina, Saskatoon, Calgary and Edmonton are all attempting to leverage financial assistance from their local governments, the federal government and the private sector to position themselves as inland port destinations.

IMPORTANT STEP

The creation of CentrePort Canada is an important step in providing Winnipeg with an edge on the competition. Barry Rempel, president and CEO of the Winnipeg Airports Authority, says there is land available immediately and a plan for future phases of fully serviced land.

All of the important players are on the same page in regards to the importance of this project. Premier Gary Doer, Mayor Sam Katz, the Manitoba Federation of Labour, as well as the business community, are all supportive of the initiative.

The development of an inland port probably won't result in our population growing at the rate it did a hundred years ago. But it should position us once again as not just Canada's gateway to the West but to the rest of the world.

Source: Winnipeg Sun

20 years ago winport was going to be the most important development to ever happen in winnipeg....i like the name centreport better at least....i wonder what the idea will be called in 2020 when someone comes up with it again....maybe....fortheloveofgodpleaseshipyourstuffthroughourcityport

A bit cynical there are we? :rolleyes:

NeverlandPort

I like the ring of this name, i just don't think that it would be a prudent business decision to use so many letters, i mean your printing costs would be through the roof.

^ yeah there has to be some sort of acronym there...

FLGPSYSTOC Port. Or maybe shorten it to FLOG Port.

hahaha good one....although in 2020, it will be built, we will be making money, and will be transporting goods faster than we can count the cash:notacrook:

flogport....good one.

I would have to agree with you... they will begin connection services to land next summer.. and development will begin after then.

The interchange at Stergon and Inkster will begin constructuion next year as well.

so basically, Winnipeg has the chance to become the Chicago of the Canada?

Chicago might be pushing reality ... but Winnipeg may soon return to its economic roots as being a major global centre of trade.

As it is layed out now the new Centreport Canada site will be nearly half the size of Regina. There will be major upgrades to the Highway linking to the US interstate system as well as to the TransCanada.. especailly how it links into the city. The Port of Churchill is set to be enhanced, as are the current rail links to that port.

If it goes ahead .. it will be the largest economic driven in the city and province for decades to come.

I've been in the wilds of northern Alberta for the last couple of days, and when I read this article today, it made me really happy.


But again, will this Centreport have competition from Regina and Edmonton with their bids for an inland port, or would this happen despite what occurs in those cities?

Honestly, I could see only two cities that would be considered best suited for these inland ports on the Prairies: Winnipeg and Edmonton. The rest really don' have the geographical location advantage like these two cities do.

It would appear to me that Winnipeg's geographical advantage would be as a distribution point to the U.S., mainly. But given the border hassles why wouldn't you just ship to Grand Forks or Minneapolis if you want that advantage? When they start talking about Winnipeg's central position in some imaginary Mexico-to-Churchill "corridor", it just sounds like the usual badly thought out idea that someone's pushing because there's government money to be had.

Then why bother shipping in Canada at all?

I'm very curious; what is your take on Edmonton's efforts to become a inland port hub to Prince Rupert?

is our location really an advantage?...it isnt 1910 anymore where everything was put on a train and marched west for days...

let me understand this...stuff is taken off a ship in vancouver and has to go either to the west coast of the US, or the eastern half of canada and the US...why is winnipeg a logical place to process it?.....wouldnt vancouver be that location?...or toronto?

if the goods are going south to the 100m people who live in the west, then it makes no sense to bring it to winnipeg.

if the goods are going to the 200m people on the eastern seaboard, then why is winnipeg not just another marker on the route?...why stop here, unload everything and then reload everything and keep going on the same path you were already on? .....there is nothing north or south of us and goods dont travel east to west anymore, so why wouldnt it all just keep heading east and get processed where everyone lives?

and how does the stuff get to winnipeg to be processed?.....where is everything processed now?

seems like an odd thing to hang your hat on.

its called whole salers

and parts suplers ect

The idea of an inland port is that the goods in containers would arrive in bond and be shipped to bonded warehouses where they would remain free of duty and taxes and get distributed in bonded warehouses for further shipment to points east and south. I have a client who is developing a tracking devise that through sattilite positioning can track the location of the containers and track who and when the containers get opened for purposes of assessing the bond related issues.

Vancouver port is too busy as are most of the west coasts ports in the US to handle a lot of the increased traffic that is expected from China and other points east. With the opening of the port in Prince Rupert, shippers from Asia now have a route that is shorter than the other traditional routes in existence. Also, if they are able to unload the ships in a more efficient manner, the time line for shipping will be greatly reduced. That can be a significant factor.

Winnipeg has a good location for Churchill and goods travelling from Europe. However, Edmonton has a better location for goods from Asia. A lot of the advantages that Winnipeg has, also exist in Edmonton. For example, both cities have 24 hour airports. However, Edmonton's airport is farther out in the city and is not confined by the city population being so close. Both airports have lots of developable land. Again, Edmonton has more considering it is not confined at all by the city proper. Both cities have good rail connections. Both cities have strong trucking facilities. Edmonton's location is better as you would think that if you wanted to ship to North America from Asia you would want to ship to the first major point, split up your product and move it by truck to all other points in North America. If you intend to ship to California or other points in the western US as part of this process, why would you want to ship all the way to Winnipeg and then ship things back west? As far as air traffic from Asia is concerned, Edmonton is currently working on getting airlines to use the airport as its stopover for fueling for flights from eastern US cities heading west to China. Once you establish the fueling stops you can integrate the shipment of international cargo from Asia. Here again, Edmonton has an advantage because Winnipeg may be too close to the eastern cities to warrant being a fueling stop.

Eventually, I think both cities are going to end up having inland ports but they may end up servicing different markets.

hmmm...thanks for clearing that up....good info.

i would think that the polar air route would help edmonton as well.

why not do it in abbotsford?...it seems odd to me to drag cargo thousands of kilometres to process....even edmonton...if vancouver is the main port, to drive or train cargo way up north, process it and then ship it back south seems counter intuitive....thousands of kms of transportation for nothing....is the cargo from prince rupert enough to justify it?

There is a whole study by the Trade Council.. which is available to the public, which you should read.
It is called Winnipeg - Canada's Centre for Global Trade It breaks it down into some detail, but I will summarize it.

Fact: Winnipeg is closer to China than Vancouver by air - Winnipeg is looking to maximize it air Cargo Business with economies like China and Russia.


Fact: The Port of Churchill is significantly closer to major northern ports in Asia and Eurpope than Vancouver, Montreal or Halifax. Transporting via Churchill-Winnipeg would save multiple days in shipping.


Winnipeg also currently haddles massive amounts of goods moving east-west (all goods crossing Canada go through RiverCity) and along the Mid-Continent Corridor. The plan is to create a Free Trade Zone at Centre Port where goods could be manufactured with parts arriving in Winnipeg from various places with NAFTA tax prefrence, as is the case in Kansas City.

Kansas is not a coastal city either but has realized significant growth via its Inland Port status. This is the case while the city still does not has the access to Ports in Churchill and Thunder Bay, or the shorter air routes to China for Air Cargo Trade.

Winnipeg has already seen signicant growth in Air Cargo the last while, but it lacks the infrastruce to make it much larger.

CentrePort will have a Multi-Modal facility at the airport to allow trains, plans and trucks to exchange cargo in a quick and efficent manner. There will also be container facilities built, where goods will be managed and send to its proper destination .. be it to Toronto, Russia, Chicago or where ever. It will all be handled at this inland port.

Winnipeg has significant location advantages.. being the centre of the continient, but still close access to foriegn markets and cheap landing fees... while being close to major US markets.

If this project goes through it will be a very big economic driver of the city. Billions of dollars of investment, not including very sizable economic spin offs... added transportation business .. new manufacturing facilities ... the city's increased status as an internation transportaion and business hub are among the major benefits which will be realized.

That would make sense logistically for goods from the Port in Vancouver but maybe not from the Port in Prince Rupert.

Also, I would think that there would be serious issues trying to develop a huge inland port facility on any land in the agricultrual land reserve surrounding Abbotsford. Lots of farms growing raspberries and blueberries etc right in the path as you land at the Abbotsford airport and they are very anal about the farmland restrictions here.