CentrePort
How CentrePort Canada
is Turning Landlocked
Winnipeg into an Inland Port
Manitoba’s capital is reviving its roots as a vital supply chain link
By Graeme Morton
T
here must be something built into the DNA of
Winnipeggers and Manitobans when it comes to
becoming vital links in supply chains.
From the early days of the fur trade to the pivotal role the
region played during the mass influx of European settlers to
Western Canada at the turn of the 20 th century, Winnipeg nat-
urally falls into the role of clearing house for both people and
products. That’s why it’s no surprise the Manitoba capital is
home to CentrePort Canada, an ambitious, visionary project
designed to have a major, lasting impact on the province’s eco-
nomic future.
CentrePort Canada’s president and CEO, Diane Gray, a for-
mer deputy minister in a number of provincial government
departments, picks up the story.
“In 2008, a broad cross-section of the Manitoba business
community, along with a number of levels of government and
labour, came together to recommend an inland port project
for the city,” says Gray. “It was a natural extension of capitaliz-
ing on the existing transportation assets and our geographic
location as a central hub not just for Canada, but really for
North America.”
A 20,000-acre “footprint” was envisioned for an area adja-
cent to James Armstrong Richardson International Airport in
the city’s northwest and the neighbouring Rural Municipality
of Rosser. Those transportation assets include the confluence
of international air cargo, three major railway lines (Canadian
National, Canadian Pacific and BNSF) and a thriving trans-
port trucking corridor. About 70 per cent of Manitoba’s
SUPPLY CHAIN CANADA • QUARTER 1 2017 • 27