The Government of Canada has announced $5 million in funding to support a project at the Port of Windsor that will increase warehousing capacity and speed up loading activities, such as transferring cargo from trucks to rail cars.

The federal money is being provided under the National Trade Corridors Fund (NTCF), and is being supplemented by an investment of $6.2 million from the Essex Terminal Railway (ETR) Company, for a total investment of $11.2 million.

“The need for additional infrastructure to store goods at the Port of Windsor is critical to maintaining a competitive, resilient and fluid supply chain,” said Transport Minister Omar Alghabra. “The contribution I am announcing today will solve capacity issues, create good jobs, and grow the Windsor regional economy.”

Located at the Windsor-Detroit Gateway, the Essex terminal Railway runs 35 kilometres from the east side of Windsor through the town of LaSalle and terminates in Amherstburg Ontario, roughly paralleling the Detroit River. It interchanges with CN, Canadian Pacific and CSX, and services customers in the industrial, chemical, agribusiness, salt, automotive engines, lumber, scrap and food products sectors.

The joint investment will also help increase the capacity and efficiency of Morterm Limited’s transload activities at the port, according to Transport Canada. Morterm, an ETR sister company, has 160,000 square feet of indoor storage and more than 90 acres of outdoor, fenced and gated storage yards.

Relieving Supply Chain Congestion at Canadian Ports is a targeted call under the National Trade Corridors Fund to assist with measures to relieve immediate supply chain congestion and facilitate the movement of goods at Canadian ports.