CentrePort Canada

The CentrePort Canada Act
Legislative Assembly of Manitoba
Citation	C.C.S.M. c. C44
Enacted by	2nd Session, 39th Legislature
Assented to	October 9, 2008
Legislative history
Bill title	Bill 47
Amended by
SM 2010, c. 33, s. 75
Status: Amended

CentrePort Canada was created in 2008 by provincial legislation called the CentrePort Canada Act, which established its mandate and designated land to the port.[6] The Act also defines the structure of the board of directors and includes nominees from 11 nominating organizations and 4 directors at large.[7]

Since then, CentrePort has worked closely with related departments of the Manitoba government, including Manitoba Infrastructure and Transportation, Department of Economic Development and Jobs, Manitoba Municipal Relations, and Manitoba Agriculture and Resource Development.[1] Under The Planning Act, the portion of the inland port that falls within Rosser is a Special Planning Area, wherein land usage is guided by the Inland Port Special Planning Areas Regulation 49/2016 (Development Plan and Zoning By-law).[4][8] The planning authority for lands within this area is the provincial Minister of Indigenous and Municipal Relations.[8]

CentrePort has also engaged with several federal departments, including Western Economic Diversification, Transport Canada, Global Affairs, and International Development.[1]

CentrePort is now one among a growing number of inland terminals in North America and faces competition from other prairie centres, such as Port Alberta in Metro Edmonton and the Global Transportation Hub in Regina, Saskatchewan.

Marketing partners of CentrePort include (among others):[1]

• Aboriginal Chamber of Commerce
• Assiniboia Chamber of Commerce
• Bockstael Construction
• Business Council of Manitoba
• Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC)
• Cushman & Wakefield I Stevenson
• Economic Development Winnipeg
• Manitoba Chambers of Commerce
• Manitoba Real Estate Association
• Manitoba Trucking Association
• Motel 6 Winnipeg West
• Prairie Rail Solutions
• Super 8 Winnipeg West
• Thompson Dorfman Sweatman LLP
• United Way Winnipeg
• Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce
• Winnipeg Metro Region
• World Trade Centre Winnipeg

CentrePort Canada provides access to tri-modal transportation:[3][4]

1. three Class I railways, specifically Canadian National (CNR), Canadian Pacific (CPR), and BNSF Railway;
2. a 24/7 international air cargo airport (James Armstrong Richardson International); and
3. an international trucking hub, which includes two of Canada’s largest companies—Bison Transport and TransX.[9]

CentrePort also offers greenfield investment opportunities for a wide variety of business operations, including distribution, warehousing, and manufacturing.

CentrePort also has partnerships with post-secondary institutions, namely Red River College (RRC) and Manitoba Institute of Trades & Technology. For agribusiness, there are specialized industry training programs at the University of Manitoba (Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences/ Transport Institute), University of Winnipeg (Richardson College for Environment and Science), and RRC (Paterson GlobalFoods Institute).

The portion of CentrePort Canada within the Rural Municipality of Rosser has been established as the "Inland Port Special Planning Area," wherein land use is regulated by the Development Plan and Zoning By-law,[8] helping to expedite planning and the land-development approval process.[10]

In 2020, CentrePort Canada announced a new project to be completed by the end of 2021: InkSport Business Park, a $65-million, 68-acre industrial park built by Whiteland Developers.[11]

The freight terminal of Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport (IATA: YWG, ICAO: CYWG) is part of the CentrePort Canada dry port, offering 24/7 worldwide air cargo operations. YWG is ranked #1 in all of Canada for "dedicated freighter aircraft movements."

Major carriers on site include Air Canada Cargo, Canada Post, Cargojet, FedEx, Purolator, and UPS.[5] Moreover, Manitoba holds the 3rd largest aerospace industry in Canada, including Air Canada, which is located at CentrePort, on the Winnipeg Airports Authority Campus.[19]

CentrePort Canada Way is a four-lane, 10 km (6.2 mi) expressway that links Winnipeg's Inkster Boulevard to the Perimeter Highway, and allows for 5 minutes to 90 km/h (56 mph). As Winnipeg is located near the geographic centre of North America, it serves as a hub for national and international trading corridors, as well as attracting new transportation logistics development to the city area.[5]

Plans to build CentrePort Canada Way was announced on 14 April 2009, when Prime Minister Stephen Harper with Manitoba Premier Gary Doer declared at James Richardson Airport that both the federal and provincial governments would contribute CA$212.5 million towards a divided four-lane expressway.[20] In March 2014, the Province of Manitoba announced that it would double CentrePort Canada Way to bypass the Rural Municipality of Headingley and connect directly into the TransCanada Highway (PTH 1).[21] The expressway subsequently opened in November 2013.[20]

The expressway is also situated within about $1 billion in supporting highway infrastructure.

Winnipeg is the only major Canadian city on the prairies served by three continental class I railways: Canadian National (CNR), Canadian Pacific (CPR), and BNSF Railway.[3]

A new industrial park named CentrePort Canada Rail Park[22] is in development on 665 acres (2.69 km²) of CentrePort's 20,000 acres (81 km²) of land, located west of the Winnipeg Airport. The Rail Park is currently in development (as of February 2021) and, when complete, will provide rail serviced industrial land for companies engaged in global supply chain activities. The Rail Park is intended to further enhance access to the three Class I rail carriers that are already provided by CentrePort, with CPR and CNR in particular operating significant intermodal yards in Winnipeg.[5]

• CentrePort Canada website
• CentrePort Land Use map