National Trade Corridors Fund
Location: National
Issue/Source: National Trade Corridors Fund
Date: March 2024
Suggested Responses
- The National Trade Corridors Fund is a $4.3 billion trade-enabling infrastructure program that helps infrastructure owners and users to invest in the critical assets that support economic activity and the physical movement of goods and people in Canada.
- To date, the Government of Canada has approved $4.1 billion in federal funding for 213 projects across the country, leveraging total investments of approximately $10.5 billion.
If Pressed
- The National Trade Corridors Fund is a competitive, merit-based program that helps fund projects and activities that strengthen the efficiency and resilience of national trade corridors.
- The Government of Canada is committed to ensuring that our supply chains are efficient and reliable to help create middle-class jobs and help build an economy that works for everyone, as well as to ensure that Canadians have timely access to affordable goods.
- Through the National Trade Corridors Fund, Transport Canada is supporting improvements to Canada’s roads, rail, air, and marine shipping routes to foster domestic and international trade.
Background Information
- The National Trade Corridors Fund was established in 2017, with a plan to invest $1.9 billion over 11 years, including $400 million to address urgent transportation needs in the territories, funding was accelerated in 2018 to support the Export Diversification Strategy to diversify Canada’s trade to overseas markets.
- Budget 2019 committed an additional $400 million for the Arctic and Northern regions, increasing the total National Trade Corridors Fund envelope to $2.3 billion.
- Budget 2021 provided the National Trade Corridors Fund with an additional $1.9 billion over four years, increasing the National Trade Corridors Fund funding envelope to $4.2 billion, to spur investments in much-needed enhancements to Canada’s roads, rail, and shipping routes, build long-term resilience for the Canadian economy, and support internal and international trade.
- Budget 2022 provided the National Trade Corridors Fund with an additional $450 million over five years, as well as $56 million in dedicated funding for the Advancing Industry-Driven Digitalization of Canada’s Supply Chain initiative, to increase the focus on supporting supply chain issues to help ease the movement of goods across Canada’s transportation networks.
- Budget 2023 reduced by $76 million the National Trade Corridors Fund’s funding as per the Realigning Previously Announced Spending budget measure. The department has identified a $89.6 million reduction as part of a budget review exercise stemming from Budget 2023. Finally, the program’s budget was further reduced by $159.5 million through a partially denied 2024-25 Annual Reference Level Update request.
- Since the program’s launch in 2017, the National Trade Corridors Fund has completed seven calls for project proposals: First National, Northern, Continuous, Arctic and Northern, Increasing the Fluidity of Canada’s Supply Chains, Relieving Supply Chain Congestion at Canadian Ports and Advancing Supply Chain Digitalization.