The government of Canada has announced a CAD$17 million ($12.3 million) investment over five years to streamline regulations and reduce bureaucracy across supply chains.
The Minister of Transport, Omar Alghabra, made the announcement on 13 October.
As the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for more resilient supply chains, funds will go towards several new initiatives to improve rail, marine, and air modes of transportation.
In particular, the government will implement its commitment by:
- Amending the Canada Transportation Act to allow Transport Canada to offer digital service delivery to transportation operators across modes, saving time and money;
- Working towards a Maritime Single Window, a uniform system that would enable digital information exchange between all stakeholders regarding vessel arrivals, departures, and stays;
- Collaborating with industry to develop an approach to eliminate paperwork and shift to the use of electronic shipping documents for the transportation of dangerous goods via the road, rail, and air;
- Recognising explosives detection dog and handlers’ teams (EDDHTs) as an approved screening method to speed up the screening and movement of air cargo;
- Launching the Pre-load Air Cargo Targeting (PACT) to improve the security of air cargo through the supply chain.
READ: Port of Prince Rupert expansion plans are critical to Canada’s international trade ambitions
The move follows recommendations identified in Canada’s National Supply Chain Task Force’s final report released on 6 October on the modernisation of transportation regulations.
“Our government made a commitment in Budget 2022 to invest CAD$17 million ($12.3 million) to streamline regulations across our supply chain, and that’s exactly what we are doing through these new initiatives,” said Minister Alghabra.
“This is a first step towards addressing the recommendations provided by the National Supply Chain Task Force in their final report to our Government, and we will continue to take steps to ease congestion and prevent disruptions across our supply chains.”
Supply Chain Week builds on the National Supply Chain Summit held in January 2022, where a broad range of supply chain stakeholders discussed challenges, strategies, and next steps to enable a swift recovery of Canada’s transportation supply chain.
