Niagara has great potential in its underutilized lands along the Welland Canal from Thorold south through Welland and Port Colborne, says Ian Hamilton.
Hamilton, chief executive officer of the Hamilton Oshawa Port Authority (HOPA), joined Thorold Mayor Terry Ugulini, Welland Mayor Frank Campion and Port Colborne Mayor Bill Steele Friday to create a network of multimodal hubs along the canal through a memorandum of understanding.
To be called Niagara Ports, HOPA and the three municipalities will work together to snap up lands declared surplus by Transport Canada along the waterway, then work to bring new industry and jobs to the region.
“This is very important for the City of Thorold, and Welland and Port Colborne. We have assets along the Welland Canal that we can utilize, and we have the multimodal capability with good rail and highway systems already in place,” said Ugulini, after the signing at Lock 7 Viewing Centre in Thorold.
He said Thorold has a couple of properties it’s looking at, and there are industrial sites that would create the opportunity for investment as Niagara Ports grows.
“These assets (the canal lands) have been underutilized because of the shift to on-time delivery, with everyone using transport trucks,” he said. “This pandemic has taught us that we have to start to do things differently.
“I believe that coming out of this pandemic with our eyes wide open, we’re going to be looking at utilizing and leveraging these assets and take some pressure off the highway system,” said Ugulini, adding there will be job creation.
Steele agreed, saying the economy would grow as well, with between three and five spinoff jobs for every one created by Niagara Ports.
He said it will increase the tax base as well, bring in more investment to the lakeside city and update the marine industry.
“Partnering with Welland, Thorold and HOPA gives us bigger clout when it comes to the federal and provincial governments.”
Steele said the partnership already has a “big foot in the door” with Niagara Centre MP Vance Badawey, chair of the House of Commons standing committee on transport, infrastructure and communities.
He said the idea for creating a port in Niagara came many years ago when he served on council with Badawey as mayor.
“We tried to do this many years ago, but we couldn’t get the synergies going. Unless we collaborate more, things will never get done,” said Steele.
He said there’s land along the east pier on the canal, north of ADM and along the Highway 140 corridor that could be used to create the port.
Campion agreed with Steele about the Highway 140 corridor and said there are lands there not being utilized for what they should be.
“This is an important issue for Welland. We need to utilize our canal lands to their full potential.”
Campion said that in the past, industry sprang up along the canal that ran through the middle of the city.
Today bollards, where ships tied up, are still visible on the now recreational canal.
With the canal bypass built east of the city’s downtown core, the connection was cut. But Campion said the city still has good rail and highway access for any company looking to move to the area.
He said the city is open to any industry willing to be part of Niagara Ports and improve the economy of Welland and Niagara.
“We have the company on the canal that makes containers (CNTNR transforms shipping containers into prefabricated homes). If we could get some tie-offs for them (on the canal) they could ship their goods around the world,” said Campion.
Hamilton said HOPA has a vision to create an integrated network of marine assets in the Great Lakes, especially in southern Ontario.
“We believe this (Niagara Ports) is a wonderful addition. By tying together all the assets, it allows us to invest in the right places. We can take advantage of economies of scale an create the right infrastructure, attract businesses and service the existing ones,” said Hamilton.
