Key Messages
- Port of Montreal is a key international and domestic gateway of critical importance to the Canadian economy, handling $275 million worth of cargo daily, and supporting more than 19,000 direct and indirect jobs.
- The economic impact of the pandemic has already placed our transportation system under unprecedented stress.
- Canadian ports, rail lines, and trucking companies have been stretched and working at full capacity to keep goods available for Canadians.
- In this context, the strike at the Port of Montreal is especially harmful to the Canadian economy.
- Every week, the strike at the Port of Montreal is estimated to cost the Canadian economy between $40 million and $100 million in permanent losses.
- Disruptions in the transportation network cause cascading negative economic effects across the entire country.
- These negative impacts have been accumulating, with each new disruption causing profound, and in some cases irreparable, damage.
- Although the local economy of Montreal is hardest hit by the strike, losses are being profoundly felt across Quebec, Ontario, and beyond.
- These negative impacts disproportionately hurt small and medium businesses.
- Consequences are particularly profound for time-sensitive food and medical products that are key to the health and safety of Canadians as they manage through the pandemic.
- This labour disruption, the second in less than a year, is damaging Canada’s reputation as a reliable trading partner.
- As the economy recovers from the effects of the pandemic, it is critical that Canada’s transportation system remains open, efficient, and fluid.
- It is critical that the Port of Montreal continues to serve Canadians at this time.