Port of Salaberry-de-Valleyfield | An expansion torpedoed by “bureaucracy”

Funded to the tune of 24 million by Ottawa and Quebec, the expansion of the port of Salaberry-de-Valleyfield is torpedoed by an unexpected decision from the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), denounces a local coalition. Without a change in direction, the economic boom of recent years in the region risks being slowed down by a “bureaucratic” decision, she deplores.

“What annoys me about this is not that they refuse to give us more, but that they take away what we had,” laments the mayor of Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Miguel Lemieux, in interview. It’s discouraging to have to fight not to have what you have taken away. »

The issue concerns the announced end, after two decades, of a service offered by CBSA agents, who travel to clear customs of goods arriving in containers on the docks of the port located in Montérégie. This is a kind of mobile X-ray machine. The Agency says it has changed its approach due to a lack of resources – a reason that is difficult to understand in the municipality.

Unlike places like Montreal and Halifax, the Port of Salaberry-de-Valleyfield – one of the few municipally owned ports in Canada – handles few containers. Annually, it accommodates a little less than 1,000 “twenty-foot equivalent” containers – far from the 1.7 million units annually at the Port of Montreal (2022). Salaberry-de-Valleyfield specializes in solid and liquid bulk niches.

Anchor

The ability to transship these metal boxes is nevertheless strategic for the port of Salaberry-de-Valleyfield: it is in this way that companies established in the region can receive equipment and other goods necessary for their projects more quickly. investments or their activities.

Otherwise, these containers must be rerouted to Montreal or to other ports located on the East Coast. This extends delays for businesses established in the Salaberry-de-Valleyfield area in addition to increasing their transportation costs.

Director of economic development for Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Stéphane Billette affirms that the intermodality of the municipality with its port, the CSX railway marshalling yard and Highway 30 is one of the main elements behind of the region’s economic boom. Well-known companies like Cascades, Petro-Canada, Broccolini, Montoni and Syscomax have invested in the region’s industrial parks in recent years.

The CBSA’s decision will slow down this momentum, says Mr. Billette.

“It’s nonsense,” laments Mr. Billette. I have rarely seen a file like this. Are we going to lose projects? We don’t want that. But this could block investments or affect others. »

Some 450 million in permits were issued in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield in 2022 and the city currently has 4.5 million square feet (420,000 square meters) of industrial buildings planned and under construction. The capacity to receive containers at the port is critical, says Mr. Billette.

Few details

The CBSA offered few details on its decision, rendered earlier this year. In a two-page letter dated January 18 and that The Press was able to consult, she limits herself to attributing her decision to a “lack of resources and equipment”. Unlike ports like Montreal and Halifax, there are no full-time customs officers in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield. These are mobile units that move two to four times a month, depending on the coalition, while the St. Lawrence Seaway is open.

The turn of events took Desgagnés by surprise, which in May 2023 acquired Valport Maritime Services, the operator of the port of Salaberry-de-Valleyfield since 1994. The Quebec company did not expect to see the CBSA refuses him the necessary permit to receive containers.

Year in, year out, the bill to cover travel costs for customs officers a few times each month hovers around $25,000, according to the coalition. The latter has been open to paying costs to ensure the continuation of the container clearance service, but affirms that the Agency refuses to discuss to find a solution. In an email, the CBSA did not respond to questions from The Pressciting a ban under the Customs Act to comment on the situation at the port of Valleyfield.

Announced in 2019, the port expansion represents a total investment of 36 million. The two levels of government each offered 12 million. The project involves the extension of two existing berths and the construction of a third. The project is expected to be completed around fall 2026.