LOCATION: National
Issue/Source: National trade corridors fund
Date: January 12, 2021
Suggested ResponseS
- The National Trade Corridors Fund is a merit-based program designed to help infrastructure owners and users invest in the critical assets that support economic activity in Canada.
- To date, the Government has announced more than $1.7 billion to over 85 projects across the country, leveraging total investments in excess of $3.9 billion.
- These strategic investments in trade corridors are supporting increased global market access for Canadian goods and helping to get Canadians back to work.
- On October 23, 2020, Transport Canada launched the Arctic and Northern call for proposals, which will allocate up to $400 million in federal funding to meritorious transportation infrastructure projects that support social and economic development in Canada’s Northern and Arctic regions.
IF PRESSED
- In an effort to limit disruptions, Transport Canada continues to monitor the impacts of the pandemic on supply chains and work with proponents to advance strategic transportation investments.
- More than 60 National Trade Corridors Fund projects are underway and helping Canadians get back to work.
- The National Trade Corridors Fund continuous call for proposals is also still open for projects that support the diversification of Canadian trade to overseas markets, but the remaining funding is limited.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
- The National Trade Corridors Fund is a dedicated source of funds that helps infrastructure owners and users invest in the critical assets that support economic activity and the physical movement of goods and people in Canada.
- The National Trade Corridors Fund funding is allocated to projects based on their individual merits, which is assessed according to how they help to strengthen the efficiency and resilience of transportation assets that are critical for Canada’s continued success in global trade.
- 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 to the Export Diversification Strategy to diversify Canada’s trade to overseas markets.
- The first call for proposals and a second call for proposals specifically targeting Canada’s Territorial North (Yukon, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut) are complete. A third call for proposals (the continuous call) for trade diversification projects was launched on January 15, 2019, with the goal to accelerate the investment of the remaining National Trade Corridors Fund funding over the next five years. The continuous call is still accepting funding applications, but nearly all of the funding available for this call has now been allocated to projects.
- Budget 2019 committed an additional $400 million for the Arctic and Northern regions, increasing the total National Trade Corridors Fund funding envelope to $2.3 billion. The Arctic and Northern call for proposals launched on October 23, 2020, and closes on March 15, 2021. Funding decisions on this call are expected in spring/summer 2021.