BURSTCANXPORT officially opened in Prince Rupert on Friday, Aug. 28, marking the first major project to come online in a planned $3-billion expansion of the city’s port gateway.
The $750-million logistics facility is intended to send more Canadian products to global markets, adding a major export component to the Port of Prince Rupert’s established role as an import gateway from Asia.
“The opening represents more than the completion of another terminal project,” said Prince Rupert Port Authority president and CEO Kurt Slocombe. “This moment in our history is really focusing on the export side of the equation.”
Representatives from the Prince Rupert Port Authority, Ray-Mont Logistics, CN, Indigenous Nations, government and industry gathered for a preview of CANXPORT on Aug. 27, ahead of Friday’s official grand opening of the large-scale rail-to-container transloading facility on Ridley Island.
Until now, much of the Port of Prince Rupert’s growth has focused on imports arriving from Asia and moving by rail across North America. CANXPORT adds new capacity to move Canadian products into containers before they return overseas.
CN has also been investing in the rail network serving Prince Rupert, including the expansion of the Zanardi Rapids Bridge.
The facility is built to handle up to 400,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) annually in its first phase with the potential to increase capacity to 750,000 TEUs in the future.
“That represents the potential to move roughly six million tonnes of product through the facility each year,” Slocombe said.
The first products planned to move through CANXPORT include petrochemical resin and agricultural commodities, with pulp also expected to become part of the facility’s operations.
More full containers heading back to Asia
“One of CANXPORT’s biggest opportunities is to make use of the empty containers already moving through the port,” Slocombe said, noting more than half of the containers currently returning to Asia leave without Canadian cargo.
The Port Authority sees an opportunity to fill between 50 and 65 per cent of containers heading back across the Pacific with Canadian exports. However, Canadian export cargo is often heavier than the consumer goods arriving in containers, meaning the port cannot simply fill every returning container to capacity.
Export growth could eventually help drive additional import volumes as well. As more Canadian products are loaded into containers for export, carriers may need to bring additional containers into Prince Rupert to meet exporters’ needs.
Indigenous business involvement
The Prince Rupert Port Authority awarded the primary development contract for the site to an Indigenous joint venture involving Metlakatla First Nation, Lax Kw’alaams Band, Gitxaała Nation and IDL Projects.
“CANXPORT is a powerful example of what can be accomplished when Indigenous Nations are active partners in economic development,” said Chief Robert Nelson of Metlakatla First Nation.
Metlakatla played a direct role in bringing the facility to life by leading its construction alongside its joint venture partners, Nelson said.
“Our vision, leadership and firm commitment to building a stronger economic future for our Nation and the region is bolstered by businesses like Gat Leedm Logistics and the South Kaien Logistics Park that support the Prince Rupert Gateway.”
Metlakatla and Lax Kw’alaams are also majority owners of Gat Leedm Logistics, which provides truck drayage services at the Port of Prince Rupert.
“The opening of CANXPORT is an important milestone for the region and demonstrates the value of First Nations participation in major projects,” said Luugagwelks, Elected Chief Councillor Linda Innes of Gitxaała Nation.
Trade diversification focus
The opening comes as Canada seeks to expand trade beyond the United States. Slocombe highlighted China, South Korea and Japan as priority markets for Canadian exports through Prince Rupert.
As opposed to traditional bulk shipping, CANXPORT’s rail-to-container model allows products to move in smaller, regular shipments rather than requiring exporters to accumulate enough cargo to fill an entire vessel.
That flexibility could help producers reach overseas customers while making Prince Rupert a more significant export gateway.
“Not every economy in the world has access to a marine environment,” Slocombe said. “If you put it in a container, it lands at every single country on that waterfront.”
Growth brings local pressures
During a media question-and-answer session, Slocombe was also asked how the Port Authority intends to balance continued industrial growth with pressures on housing and infrastructure in Prince Rupert.
He acknowledged that community development can lag behind major industrial investment.
However, Slocombe pointed to recent investments in Prince Rupert’s water infrastructure, the resolution of the long-running Payment-in-lieu of taxes (PILT) agreement with the city and new housing projects as signs that investment associated with port growth is beginning to reach the community.
“You don’t build a bunch of houses first, and then hopefully you get the industry,” he said. “It’s the industry that comes and then provides you the opportunity to build the houses.”
The Port Authority is also working with the city and other partners to grow the cruise ship sector, which Slocombe said could eventually bring as many as 350,000 passengers annually to Prince Rupert.
“Using an estimated $100 in local expenditure per passenger, that could represent $35 million flowing into the community annually,” he said.
While celebrating the opening, Slocombe also identified challenges facing future port development. The biggest barrier, he said, is the time required to move projects through regulatory processes.
“We were very successful in getting through the regulatory process, but the timelines are very long,” he said.
“Governments need to reduce duplication between agencies without weakening regulatory oversight.”
He also pointed to labour stability as an important factor in attracting investment in Canada’s waterfront.
Following the formal media session, Slocombe said longer collective agreements can provide greater certainty for both workers and companies considering major capital investments.
“The greatest growth that we’ve seen on the waterfront happened when we had an eight-year agreement with the ILWU,” he said.
“We as a country need to think big. This is not a small facility.”