Diversify markets with our blue highway

Quebec’s maritime industry is expected to play a role in the diversification of markets driven by the current global geopolitical situation. In this context, the recent approval allowing the Port of Quebec to become an international container terminal represents a significant advantage. However, experts believe the sector still faces numerous challenges.

Claude Comtois, a geography professor at Université de Montréal, expects maritime transportation to increase worldwide.

“More and more countries are becoming connected by sea, whereas they were not before,” he explains. “Tonnages and distances traveled are increasing. We will also see an increase in maritime transportation here. Supply chains are being forced to diversify because of trade disputes with the United States.”

Rather than moving from north to south by truck or rail, goods such as metals, forest products, and grain will increasingly travel along an east-west axis by ship, according to the professor.

“Do not bet against maritime transportation—you will lose.” — Claude Comtois, Geography Professor at Université de Montréal

An “underused” transportation route

This “realignment of the logistics chain” has been clearly noticeable over the past year, confirms Saul Polo, President and CEO of the St. Lawrence Ship Operators, an association representing several companies that operate cargo and passenger vessels.

Under these circumstances, he is calling on the Quebec government to promote intermodal transportation by improving the integration of maritime, rail, and road transportation.

“Each mode has a role to play. Let us take another look together at how we can do better,” says Polo. “Quebec has greenhouse gas reduction targets. The maritime sector can contribute more and play an important role in achieving those targets.”

“We are currently underusing our blue highway. We are operating at half the levels reached in 1979. We need a regulatory and administrative framework that will allow us to optimize its use.” — Saul Polo, President and CEO of the St. Lawrence Ship Operators

In this regard, the federal government’s designation of the Port of Quebec as Canada’s sixth international container terminal represents a “critical piece,” according to Robert Bellisle, President and CEO of Quebec-based maritime company QSL, the project’s proponent.

The Port of Montreal also holds this status, but because it is not a deep-water port, it faces operational limitations.

“With Quebec, we are adding a deep-water port. It can be used to lighten vessels continuing toward Montreal or Contrecoeur. Conversely, cargo can leave the Great Lakes and be transshipped onto other vessels. This provides a new asset for the St. Lawrence–Great Lakes corridor.” — Robert Bellisle, President and CEO of QSL

Bellisle, who leads a company specializing in maritime logistics and operating at 66 terminals along the East Coast, nevertheless emphasizes that the work is not yet complete. QSL’s project, which requires approximately $60 million in private investment, must be submitted to the Port of Quebec as part of its Impact Assessment and Mitigation Process.

Residents will be consulted as part of this process, which could take between eight months and one year, Bellisle notes. The Quebec terminal will have a transshipment capacity of 200,000 containers.

Potential and challenges

According to a study conducted by Aviseo Conseil and submitted to the Chamber of Marine Commerce in the fall of 2025, the Quebec project could generate $60 million in annual economic benefits once fully operational.

“At present, container imports are only possible through three ports located on Canada’s East Coast—Halifax, Nova Scotia; Saint John, New Brunswick; and Montreal, Quebec—creating a structural bottleneck that increases congestion risks and limits resilience,” the study notes.

According to Claude Comtois, the global maritime and port industry is undergoing a “profound transformation,” meaning that maintaining the status quo “is not an option.”

The Canadian government’s decision to fund the Port of Montreal’s expansion project in Contrecoeur is therefore, in the geography professor’s view, “a very good move.”

Among the challenges ahead, the industry’s green transition must continue and be supported. More technological innovations must also be adopted, according to Saul Polo and Claude Comtois. Comtois notes that some international ports, including Rotterdam in the Netherlands and Singapore, are more than a decade ahead.

“Approximately 80% of the goods we use every day, whether at home or at work, arrive in Quebec and Canada by ship,” says the President and CEO of the St. Lawrence Ship Operators. “We cannot overlook an industry that has such a significant impact on our daily lives.”

Article by Marie-France Létourneau — La Presse

Unofficial translation by the St. Lawrence Ship Operators

Read the original article here