The Honourable Ed Fast, Minister of International Trade, along with the Honourable Kerry-Lynne Findlay, Minister of National Revenue, on behalf of the Honourable Lisa Raitt, Minister of Transport, announced infrastructure investments that will strengthen the border, improve marine container inspection capacity, and improve efficiency at Port Metro Vancouver (PMV), the official site of Transport Canada said.
The combined investment from the Harper government and PMV totals nearly $106 million. As part of the Government of Canada’s commitment to the Beyond the Border Action Plan, announced by Prime Minister Harper and President Obama, an investment of $49.9 million is being made in two new marine container examination facilities to meet the anticipated growth in container volume through Deltaport, BC. The Roberts Bank facility, located at the east end of the Deltaport causeway on the Tsawwassen First Nation Industrial Lands, is expected to open in the summer of 2015, and the Burrard Inlet facility is scheduled to open in the fall of 2015. These new facilities will help reduce processing times, resulting in savings for Canadian businesses, while protecting the health, safety and security of Canadians. These projects are an integral part of the container logistics flow in the Lower Mainland.
Investments in the APGCI have positioned Canada as the “Gateway of Choice” between Asia and North America, and the initiative is a key element of the government’s pro-trade plan to open new markets that increase Canadian exports and create jobs and prosperity.
In fact, Canada’s west coast ports are more than two days closer to Asian markets than any other ports in North America. Since 2006, the Harper government has invested $1.4 billion into Asia-Pacific Gateway infrastructure projects, an amount that has been leveraged to almost $4 billion with the participation of provincial and municipal governments and the private sector.
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