Three prominent transportation networks, alongside the provincial and federal governments, have signed a commitment to work in a more integrated fashion as global trade ties shift.
Arctic Gateway Group — which owns the Hudson Bay Railway and Port of Churchill — inked a memorandum of understanding Monday with CentrePort Canada and the Winnipeg Airports Authority.
The new agreement outlines a single-window access to services and business connections. This means AGG, WAA and CentrePort will co-ordinate to move their clients’ goods throughout the province.
Business, Mining, Trade and Job Creation Minister Jamie Moses (right) and Chris Avery, president and CEO, Arctic Gateway Group sign the memorandum of understanding. (Mike Deal / Free Press)
“All three of us plan to act as one office,” Chris Avery, chief executive of Arctic Gateway Group, said. “When someone comes to (one of) us, you get all three.”
Enhancing foreign trade zone access and usage, and supporting the ongoing development of Winnipeg’s inland port, airport and the Port of Churchill and Hudson Bay railway, are included in the memorandum.
AGG, WAA and CentrePort have been talking nearly daily over the past year, CentrePort Canada president Carly Edmundson said.
“That’s only going to continue now that we’ve put some real specific strategy around what we want to achieve together,” she said. “It’s just about resilience and optionality.”
The COVID-19 pandemic, labour disputes and environmental catastrophes have contributed to supply chain disruptions over the past decade. Companies now seek several routes to get their goods to market, Edmundson said.
Nick Hays, president and CEO, Winnipeg Airports Authority (left) and Carly Edmundson, president and CEO, CentrePort Canada Inc., sign the memorandum of understanding. (Mike Deal / Free Press)
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“This is a formal way to tell Canada we are all working together to make sure that we’re building something strategic,” she said after signing the memorandum.
gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com
Gabrielle Piché reports on business for the Free Press. She interned at the Free Press and worked for its sister outlet, Canstar Community News, before entering the business beat in 2021. Read more about Gabrielle.
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