MAJOR INVESTMENT TO REHABILITATE PORT INFRASTRUCTURE PORT OF QUÉBEC WELCOMES CANADIAN GOVERNMENT’S FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTION

05/12/2018

MAJOR INVESTMENT TO REHABILITATE PORT INFRASTRUCTURE
PORT OF QUÉBEC WELCOMES CANADIAN GOVERNMENT’S FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTION

Québec City, May 12, 2018 – Port of Québec president and chief executive officer Mario Girard today applauded the $15,5 million in financial support from the National Trade Corridors Fund (NTCF) announced by the Government of Canada for restoration of key infrastructure at the Port.

The announcement was made at the Port of Québec in the presence of the Honourable Marc Garneau, Minister of Transport, the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development and member for Québec and Joel Lightbound, deputy of Louis-Hébert and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance. The federal government’s commitment is a recognition of the strategic value of Québec City’s port infrastructure and its key role in the Canadian economy.

The funds will make it possible to undertake a major program of upgrades to infrastructure in three Port sectors: Anse au Foulon, Estuaire, and Beauport. The work is essential to the future competitiveness of the Port and would have been impossible to carry out in the short term without support from the NTCF.

Work at the Port of Québec will start in the Anse au Foulon sector, where the facilities were built almost 100 years ago. Port operations in Anse au Foulon need efficient transport networks and infrastructure adapted to the needs of exporters. The first project announced today—an upgrade to the existing rail and road transport infrastructure—will boost efficiency. The electricity and water networks will also be upgraded. This area of the port has high potential for the export of Canadian goods.

In the Beauport sector, the NTCF program will fund dock repairs and protection.

Lastly, the NTCF’s support will be used to restore the drawbridge so it can once again be used by heavy goods vehicles as well as employees and customers of QPA’s business partners.

As a strategic deepwater port in the St. Lawrence/Great Lakes Seaway System, the Port of Québec will be more competitively positioned in North America with these upgrades to some of its facilities.

“This $15,5 million contribution from the Canadian government is critically important,” said Mario Girard, president and chief executive officer of the Québec Port Authority. “It will allow us to move forward with a major $30 million infrastructure rehabilitation program. This is undoubtedly the most ambitious rehabilitation program our port infrastructure has seen since we were designated a port authority in the late 1990s. In this regard, I want to commend Minister Garneau’s initiative and leadership in establishing the National Trade Corridor Fund. It will enable us to better meet the needs of the Canadian economy and growing global demand for marine transportation while also seizing new business opportunities.”

The Port of Québec generates significant economic spinoffs in the Québec City region with some $25 billion in goods being routed through the port annually. The ships that pass through the port are a key component in a logistics chain that transports approximately $20 billion worth of goods each year. The Port of Québec is a major maritime hub in the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Seaway System and generates more than 8,000 direct and indirect jobs in the Québec City area, according to the latest SECOR study. Each commercial vessel moored at the port injects an average of $600,000 into the economy, mainly in the Quebec City area.

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Source :

Marie-Andrée Blanchet
Public Relations and Events Advisor
Québec Port Authority
Tel.: (418) 648-3640
[email protected]