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Ontario-Québec Continental Gateway and Trade Corridor

Abstract

The Continental Gateway was established following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Governments of Canada, Ontario and Québec to develop, in partnership with the private and public sectors, a strategic, secure, sustainable and competitive multimodal transport system to support international trade. The purpose of this presentation is to provide the latest information on the Ontario−Québec Continental Gateway and Trade Corridor planning process and to report some of the interesting findings that came out from the studies, working groups’ activities and consultations with our partners on key issues of the transportation system. The Continental Gateway is part of a comprehensive Canadian planning exercise of gateways and trade corridors. Two other gateways and corridors have been established: Asia-Pacific and Atlantic. There are three elements that distinguish the Continental Gateway from the other two Canadian gateways: • It provide direct access to major North American markets with over 135 million consumers in less than 1000 km; • It is the main economic corridor of Canada supporting $560 billion of trade, accounting for almost three times the combined exchanges in value of the two other Canadian gateways; and • The multimodal transportation system is integrated to the rest of North America and includes four modes along the St. Lawrence−Great Lakes Corridor which connect to the Continent heartland. Although the Ontario-Québec corridor is very efficient and integrated, some of its components could be optimized to improve its competitiveness, as raised by stakeholders in studies, consultations, briefs and Continental Gateway various events : • Highway congestion and access to intermodal facilities; • Railway grade crossings; • Capacity constraints at some ports; • Harmonization; • Security. The Continental Gateway planning process has identified system efficiency, integration, capacity and condition, sustainability as well as security and safety as areas where the three governments can focus their efforts.

Conference Paper Details

Session title:
BEST PRACTICES IN URBAN TRANSPORTATION PLANNING (A)
Author(s):
Évangéline Lévesque
Topics:
Transportation planning
Year:
2010