The federal government has given the green light to the Canadian National Railway Company to build a logistics hub near Toronto—provided the corporation meets a series of conditions.

On January 21, federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada Jonathan Wilkinson announced the Government of Canada's decision to approve the Milton Logistics Hub Project. The approval is subject to the project’s meeting 325 conditions.

CN has proposed the construction and operation of a logistics hub in Milton, which is about 40 kilometres southwest of Toronto. The facility is planned to include a railway yard with more than 20 kilometres of track, and is designed to transfer containers between trucks and railcars. In so doing, CN expects the facility will help reduce regional greenhouse gas emissions by transitioning the transport of goods from trucks to lower-emitting train shipments.

The proposed facility has been a lightning rod for controversy since it was proposed in 2015. Over that time, the mayors of the various communities within Halton Region—the City of Burlington, and the towns of Halton Hills, Milton and Oakville—have worked together in opposition to the facility. Their concerns include a lack of transparency over how the land will be used. CN owns more than 1,200 acres at the site, and is proposing to develop 400 for its logistics facility. Nothing has been said about how the other 800 acres will be used.

Additionally, CN plans to operate the Milton facility 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Traffic volume at the hub would create as many as 1,600 truck trips to and from the facility each day. Given that the site is located within a kilometre of current and planned developments for as many as 34,000 people, as well as 12 schools, two long-term care homes, and one hospital, the community leaders are concerned about the project’s potential impact.

“We have heard from members of our community, residents and local leaders about their collective concern regarding this project,” said Halton Regional Chair Gary Carr. “It is unconscionable that the federal government would approve this project despite findings from its own Federal Review Panel that the project will cause significant adverse effects on human and environmental health. There has never been a decision like this before.”

In his Environmental Assessment Decision Statement, Wilkinson found the project is likely to cause significant adverse project-related and cumulative environmental effects. However, the statement said, “the Government of Canada determined that the significant adverse environmental effects of the project are justified.”

That justification was based on those conditions outlined in the statement. If met, they would make the project, “the most stringently regulated intermodal logistics hub in Canada, and among the most stringently regulated in North America.” They include measures aimed at addressing the project’s effects on air quality, human health, groundwater and surface water, migratory birds, species at risk, fish and fish habitat, the use of lands and resources by Indigenous peoples, and physical and cultural heritage. 

The conditions also require CN to limit truck traffic to 800 vehicles entering the site per day, averaged on a monthly basis. CN will also be required to establish a community liaison and communication process, and to document and respond to feedback from the community, as and demonstrate how this feedback is addressed.

"Canadians expect us to take meaningful action to protect the environment while also supporting economic growth, not just for today but for future generations,” said Wilkinson. “Today's decision to approve the Milton Logistics Hub Project, which is subject to a wide range of conditions that the Proponent must comply with to protect human health and the environment, demonstrates that the federal regulatory process meets the economic and environmental objectives of Canadians at the same time." 

Halton mayors say the conditions don’t go far enough. They worry that significant health effects are unavoidable.

“Even after some form of mitigation, there will still be significant problems. This includes the release of particulate matter (PM2.5) that is inherently dangerous and unsafe at any level of exposure and will create significantly adverse effects on human health in the community,” says a release from Halton Region.

“It is shocking that the federal government has put CN’s convenience over the health of our residents,” said Oakville Mayor Rob Burton.

CN, which said in a statement that it is committed to further engage with the Halton communities as it moves forward with the project, has not announced its next steps.