‘Blue highway’ pitch aims to boost Atlantic Canadian shipping, cut costs

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The St. Lawrence River, a major shipping corridor that carries $157-billion worth of cargo each year, could support billions more in economic value if transformed into a “marine highway” servicing Atlantic Canada, according to an industry group. 

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The St. Lawrence Shipowners Association thinks turning the river into a “blue highway” would bolster the economic value of the route and benefit East Coast businesses reliant on trucking and rail to reach central Canadian markets. 

“A modernized St. Lawrence corridor that works as a true marine highway feeding into and out of Atlantic Canada changes that (reliance) by improving supply chain resilience, reducing carbon emissions, and promoting competition to drive down costs,” said Saul Polo, association’s president.

The St. Lawrence-Great Lakes waterway flows from Lake Ontario, northeast Ontario and Quebec, to the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Atlantic Ocean. 

The “blue highway” concept is part of the association’s larger push to modernize the corridor and diversify the shipping industry. It is feeling the pinch of U.S. tariffs and port fees for Chinese-built vessels (which comprise about 40 per cent of Canada’s fleet). 

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Those additional costs are impacting the price of transporting goods by sea. 

“Ultimately, who is being penalized are Canadian consumers,” Polo said. 

To make the marine highway a reality, Polo’s association wants more short-sea shipping and better intermodal links: connection points where goods move between modes of transportation. 

He said this would make it easier to connect Atlantic ports with the industrial heartland and overseas markets. 

The plan would require several upgrades along shipping routes, to locks and connecting infrastructure, port capabilities, rail systems, and digital tools. 

A goal would be to lengthen the shipping season and make it more reliable by adding icebreaking capacity and enhanced navigation aids. 

Polo said the need for upgrades extends broadly to ports that can relieve pressure on major hubs like Halifax, Atlantic Canada’s busiest port. 

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Improving rail, road connectivity, and customs clearance capacity at other ports, he explained, would help build a more integrated, multimodal corridor and reduce congestion at over‑utilized docks.  

Polo used Saint John, N.B., as an example. For the port there, a blue highway would mean faster connections, reduced fuel expenditures, and lower logistics costs for moving existing goods that tie into the St. Lawrence-Great Lakes corridor such as potash, oil and petroleum products, forest products, and dry bulk materials like salt. 

“More efficient marine transportation means lower transportation costs for Atlantic businesses and improved access to two-way trade routes for bulk shippers,” he said.   

The Canadian National Railway (CN) is open to the idea of a blue highway. Spokesperson Tom Bateman said, “CN supports any improvements to Canada’s supply chain that will strengthen our economy.” 

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Ottawa has funding in the works that could help make the blue highway happen, the $5 billion Trade Diversification Corridors Fund. It is designed to support strategic transportation infrastructure projects that strengthen Canada’s supply chains and expand access to non-U.S. markets. 

Flavio Nienow, spokesperson for Transport Canada, said the department recognizes the pressures facing marine operators and the importance of diversifying Canada’s trade corridors. 

He said the department is working with stakeholders, including industry partners, and across government to advance implementation. 

“Further details on application timelines and eligibility criteria will be shared in due course,” Nienow said. 

Polo said his organization called on governments in September to commit massive and strategic investments that prioritize trade corridor modernization. 

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