Working Group 1 – Sector Development Opportunities

Committee co-chairs :

Martin Ball
President and CEO
WIPTEC pick, pack & ship

Mandate

Propose development perspectives and opportunities.

Provide Greater Montreal’s freight transport and logistics sector with tools and measures to improve their competitiveness and increase their contribution to the region’s economic development.

ONGOING KEY PROJECTS

In charge of this working group Amy Lombard, Project Manager : alombard@cargo-montreal.ca

Collaborative Innovation Hub for Mobility (CIM) :

Work with Propulsion Quebec on funding and carrying out a detailed cost study of the CIM
Membership on the follow-up committee
Building by CargoM of the list of potential projects that could be part of CIM

Study: Les enjeux liés aux règlements municipaux, à l’urbanisme et au développement durable du secteur de la logistique (Issues related to municipal bylaws, urban planning and sustainable development in the logistics sector) by INFRA-S

Foreign Trade Zone Centre (FTZ):

Planning of a tour of new economic development stakeholders with new promotional tools from the Cluster and the FTZ
Development of branding and certification for companies providing FTZ services

Goals

Improve the efficiency of transportation and logistics in Greater Montreal.

Identify the keys to success to attract new distribution centres and make Greater Montreal a recognized and sought-after hub for its competitiveness.

Achievements

The City of Sustainable Mobility was renamed, effective January 2023, the Collaborative Innovation Hub for Mobility. The CIM is now part of the Innovation Centres and Zones program under the MEIE

Design of a website dedicated to the CIM: innovation-mobilite.com
Reception of some 20 projects following the call for projects launched in the fall of 2021
Kickoff of the Ernest & Young (EY) partnership in Collaborative Innovation Hub for Mobility (CIM)
Funding secured by the MEIE to conduct a detailed study (infrastructure file) with an external consultant (EY) to characterize the needs, build a financial framework and, in turn, develop the financial strategy – Submission of the EY study to the MEIE for a grant application
Presentation by the CIM to the MEIE, in the presence of Mr. Pierre Fitzgibbon, Minister of Economy, Innovation and Energy, Minister Responsible for Regional Economic Development, Minister Responsible for the Metropolis and the Montréal Region
Approaches made to other ministries, the MTMD and the Ministry of Sustainable Development, Environment and Action against Climate Change (MDDELCC), and the City of Montreal
Funding approaches initiated at the federal level with Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) and Canada Economic Development (CED) for Quebec Regions

Development of a progress report: Horizon logistique – Mettre à profit notre force de transport (logistics overview – leveraging our transportation strength), in collaboration with Working Group 2, to raise awareness of the supply chain among elected officials. This document addresses the sector’s major issues, namely development opportunities, fluidity, innovation, workforce and sustainable mobility. It provides recommendations and priority actions. Horizon logistique was presented to Ms. Geneviève Guilbault, Deputy Premier and Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, and to the transportation critics of the other political parties.

Acceptation and participation as Canada’s representative in the Flanders Visitors Program – Smart and Sustainable Supply Chain Solutions (October 9-14, 2022) in Belgium.

Meetings and presentations with the Quebec delegations in Brussels and Chicago and with representatives of the embassies here in Montreal from the United States, Germany, Belgium, Czech Republic, France and Panama.

Participation by CargoM in several events as a panelist, presenter or moderator in Montreal and internationally, including a mission to Savannah as part of The Southeast U.S.-Canadian Provinces (SEUS-CP) Alliance conference; Propulsion Québec’s Impulsion 2023 Summit and the CCMM 2022 Transportation Forum. For more information, please see page 20 of this report.