Trade corridor

Trade Corridor study

In 2008, SODES coordinated a major study on the St. Lawrence-Great Lakes trade corridor, which diagnoses the St. Lawrence region transport system and identifies its bottlenecks.

Problems raised were mainly transportation infrastructure-related but also concerned human resources and certain regulatory aspects.

The St. Lawrence-Great Lakes Trade Corridor Study was conducted in conjunction with numerous transportation industry stakeholders, divided into four cargo groups: bulk, liquid bulk, general cargo and containers. The cargo groups' contribution was critical since it allowed people from the industry, the users of the St. Lawrence-Great Lakes system, to share their expertise.

The study enabled the St. Lawrence and Great Lakes Leadership Council, a body set up to reflect the private-sector's needs, to define the industry's priorities for the transport system. These priorities were then presented to the governments, which showed their intention to invest major amounts in transportation infrastructures by announcing the Québec-Ontario trade gateway project in July 2007.

For the integral version of the study (PDF):
St. Lawrence and Great Lakes Trade Corridor Study