Montreal targeted for federal investment

“The Government of Canada sees Québec’s ports as a gateway to world markets,” said Lebel. “These projects will give shippers a competitive advantage and facilitate trade in this region.”

The Montreal project consists of two phases. The first aims to modernise the port’s Maisonneuve sector by creating a fully optimised terminal which will increase capacity around 50,000 teu with second phase increasing container handling capacity by 150,000 teu in the Viau sector, which is currently used to handle and store general merchandise and bulk.

In addition to reorganising the container handling area, this phase includes the demolition of buildings, as well as work on adjacent railway track. “On completion of the work in March 2014, we will have increased the port’s overall container handling capacity by 12.5%, reaching 1.8m teu. Actual throughput in 2011 totalled 1,362,975 teu,” said Sylvie Vachon, president and CEO of Montreal Port Authority