3. b. PIC - Dredging at Transport Canada Port Facilities

LOCATION: National  

ISSUE/SOURCE: Dredging at Transport Canada Port Facilities, including Fort Chipewyan, AB  

DATE: December 2, 2024 

SUGGESTED RESPONSES 

• Transport Canada has sought to divest all of its local port facilities since the mid-1990s.  Experience across the country has shown that locally-based ownership is best-placed to ensure that facilities are operated in a manner that maximizes the benefits to the communities that they serve. 

• Where port facilities remain with the department, Transport Canada prioritizes maintenance that ensures its sites remain safe and available for authorized commercial users.  

• In the rare event that dredging is required to support authorized commercial use, Transport Canada would normally pursue this work on a cost-recovery basis with the authorized user or users bearing the cost. 

DREDGING AT THE PORT OF FORT CHIPEWYAN, ALBERTA 

• In May of 2024, Transport Canada received a request to support the dredging of the Port of Fort Chipewyan, citing low water levels and a reliance on the Port for evacuations in case of wildfires.  

• Emergency evacuation falls under provincial jurisdiction and, to date, neither the Province nor Regional Municipality has approached Transport Canada about potential dredging at the Transport Canada-owned port facility for this purpose. 

• Before declining the request, my officials consulted with Indigenous Services Canada to confirm that the Port was not the only potential egress point for emergency evacuations. 

• There are currently no authorized users of the Port of Fort Chipewyan, commercial or otherwise. 

IF PRESSED 

• Transport Canada does not have a mandate to continue to operate local port facilities where connectivity is already established and commercial users are absent. 

• Transport Canada ports were designed and built for commercial traffic from larger vessels (i.e., high dock walls that would be difficult to access from a smaller vessel). They were not built for community/recreational use. 

• All our ports are surplus, and we are continuing efforts to divest these ports under the Ports Asset Transfer Program to local operators who can better serve and understand the needs of local users.  Transfer agreements typically include a financial payment in recognition of the future costs of operating and maintaining the facility. 

• The request received by Transport Canada in relation to Fort Chipewyan was for a third party to dredge the facility with the costs to be reimbursed by Transport Canada. 

• The fact that Transport Canada owns the facility means that any dredging activities would need to be overseen by Transport Canada and Public Services and Procurement Canada under a competitively awarded contract, and where the dredging plan accounts for the contaminated sediment present in the waterlot and the potential risks to the structural integrity of wharf infrastructure. 

BACKGROUND INFORMATION 

• Transport Canada does not have a mandate to continue to operate port facilities where connectivity is already established, and commercial users are absent. However, in practice, Transport Canada has continued to operate and maintain many of its facilities until they reach the end of their useful lives. 

• In instances where Transport Canada continues to operate public port facilities, the department prioritizes basic health and safety maintenance that ensures sites may remain available for the remaining commercial users.      

• Transport Canada is not mandated to undertake dredging activities and would do so only in exceptional circumstances, provided there is authorized commercial use of the site, and the work is conducted on a cost-recovery basis. 

• Transport Canada’s sites are designed to accommodate larger vessels and authorized commercial traffic only. They were not designed to accommodate recreational vessels nor is recreational/community use of a facility an authorizable use. 

• Local First Nations requested dredging at Transport Canada’s facility in response to a desire to use the site for marine evacuations in the event of forest fires. Transport Canada elected not to undertake dredging at the facility for the following reasons: 

  • Transport Canada’s dock is one of two boat launches identified on the Regional Municipality’s Emergency Management Plan. Indigenous Services Canada also advised Transport Canada that evacuation plans, including contingency plans in the event that the local airport is unavailable, do not rely exclusively on our facility.  

  • There are currently no authorized commercial users of the site.  

  • Transport Canada does not control the water levels in Lake Athabasca and low water levels impacting the potential use of the port facility for emergency evacuation (and commercial operations) extend beyond the waterlot owned by Transport Canada.