New Supply Chain Office Coming to Transport Canada

Budget 2023 proposed 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.”

Transport Canada’s new Deputy Minister, Arun Thangaraj, confirmed in late May that the organization of this office is underway, with a target opening by the end of June 2023. Its priorities will be the digital element of supply chains—how to build out the data infrastructure—and convening people at tables and for better coordination. GCCA will continue to engage with Transport Canada as the process moves forward.

In the meantime, Transport Canada is thinking about how to build credibility and trust for industry to share supply chain data with government, particularly since the valuable data could be a target. While nothing is settled, the system in use at the Port of Rotterdam is seen by Transport Canada as a good model for where digital transformation can go. Transport Canada underscores that this is not just about ports, however. They are looking at an enterprise system between organizations, in which an ecosystem develops.