The Atlantic Gateway and Canada's Trade Corridor

Abstract:

This study addresses the Atlantic Gateway initiative, and how it relates to Canada’s global trading position as a national policy priority. The Atlantic Gateway initiative is global in reach, and national in impact. Like its twin the Asia Pacific Gateway, it combines issues of ocean-based transportation, port development and infrastructure, and inter-modal rail and trucking. The policy issue is simple: how can goods flow most easily between Pacific Rim trade and investment partners of Canadian industry? The answer is straightforward, but the challenge is daunting: maritime shipping and ocean-based transportation. That means significant changes to current policy and strategies. Because the Atlantic Gateway is a national issue, forming part of a truly Canadian gateway and transportation corridor, it requires unprecedented cooperation among all levels of government, the private sector and significant stakeholders, including the education sector. The Atlantic Gateway is a dramatic example of a global opportunity based on staggering growth rates in the rest of the world that impacts Canada, and offers the opportunity to better link Canada generally, and Atlantic Canada in particular, to the global economy.