The federal government tabled it’s 2023 budget in Parliament this afternoon, March 28.

Section 3.4 in Chapter 3, Transportation and Infrastructure Investment provides the specific supply chain items in the budget.

The major announced items are as follows.

 

To further strengthen Canada’s transportation systems and supply chain infrastructure, Budget 2023 proposes to:


  • Provide $27.2 million over five years, starting in 2023-24, to Transport Canada to establish a Transportation Supply Chain Office to work with industry and other orders of government to respond to disruptions and better coordinate action to increase the capacity, efficiency, and reliability of Canada’s transportation supply chain infrastructure;

     


  • Collaborate with industry, provinces, territories, and Indigenous Peoples to develop a long-term roadmap for Canada’s transportation infrastructure to better plan and coordinate investments required to support future trade growth;

     


  • Provide $25 million over five years, starting in 2023-24, to Transport Canada to work with Statistics Canada to develop transportation supply chain data that will help reduce congestion, make our supply chains more efficient, and inform future infrastructure planning. This measure will be advanced using existing Transport Canada resources;

     


  • Introduce amendments to the Canada Transportation Act to provide the Minister of Transport with the authority to compel data sharing by shippers accessing federally regulated transportation services;

     


  • Introduce amendments to the Canada Transportation Act for a temporary extension, on a pilot basis, of the interswitching limit in the prairie provinces to strengthen rail competition; and,

     


  • Launch a review of the Shipping Conferences Exemption Act to improve marine shipping competition.

     

These measures are a down payment on Canada’s National Supply Chain Strategy, which will be released in the coming months and will be informed by the recommendations of the National Supply Chain Task Force report.

Section 3.4 of Chapter 3 of the budget can be accessed by clicking here.