The National Supply Chain Task Force, established earlier this year by the Ministry of Transport to identify ways to improve Canada’s supply chain, has published its final report along with 21 recommendations.

The Task Force’s mandate was to examine the key issues affecting Canada’s supply chain operations and then produce recommendations on how Canada can make its transportation supply chain stronger and ensure that Canadians receive affordable goods on time – especially after the last 2.5 years of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Key factors contributing to Canada’s supply chain volatility include the pandemic, economic factors such as inflation, climate-related issues such as weather disruptions, and geopolitical concerns such as food insecurity caused by the Ukraine War, as demonstrated by the following chart:

supply chain task force chart

Released on Oct. 6, 2022, the Final Report focuses on areas of action, collaboration, and transformation as overarching themes to improve Canada’s supply chain. To realize real results for Canadians, a total of 21 actions have been recommended:

Actions to begin immediately:

  • East port container congestion
  • Address the immediate labour need across the transportation supply chain
  • Implement programs and policies to better attract and retain key supply chain positions, such as truck drivers
  • Complete twinning of Highway 185, which connects Quebec to New Brunswick
  • Expedite the approval winter transport on ice roads
  • Incent or create competition in sustainable pallet production
  • Waive 50% of airport rent payments
  • Reopen FAST card enrollment centres and/or consider novel ways to expedite applications
  • Expand CFIA and other services required to process commercial goods
  • Develop a long-term transportation supply chain strategy, including initiating a review to update and modernize related regulations
  • Develop a transportation supply chain labour/workforce strategy
  • Engage Indigenous groups (especially those in Northern and remote communities) to address their significant transportation supply chain challenges
  • Engage the U.S. and provinces/territories to achieve reciprocal recognition of regulations, policies, and processes to enhance supply chain competitiveness and productivity

Actions to be completed in the next 1-2 years:

  • Expand the 30 km interswitch distance across Canada by May 1, 2023
  • Establish, fund, and hire staff for a Supply Chain Office (within 12 months)
  • Establish a Supply Chain Office to unify the federal government’s responsibility/authority over transportation supply chain management across federal departments (within 12-24 months)
  • Finalize, implement and regularly review a long-term, future of (30- to 50-year) transportation supply chain strategy (finalize initial strategy within 2 years)
  • Digitalize and create end-to-end supply chain visibility for efficiency, accountability, planning, investment, and security (within 12-24 months)
  • Address the significant transportation supply chain labour shortage in Canada (finalize initial strategy within 2 years)
  • Revise the Canadian Transportation Agency’s mandate and provide it with the independence, authority, and commensurate funding required to deliver on that mandate (within 12-24 months)
  • Protect corridors, border crossings, and gateways from disruptions to ensure unfettered access for commercial transportation modes and continuity of transportation supply chain movement (within 12-24 months)

Moving forward, the Government of Canada will develop a National Supply Chain Strategy. This Strategy will be informed by the recommendations included in the Task Force’s final report.

“The pandemic caused massive disruptions in the labour market, leading to worker shortages across many industries, including transportation. As our economy recovers and grows, we have to make investments and changes that will not only address these disruptions, but strengthen our workforce in the long-term. The National Supply Chain Task Force’s Final Report and its recommendations will be critical to this work, helping ensure we make informed, strategic decisions,” said Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion of Canada, in a press release.

 You can read the Final Report of The National Supply Chain Task Force 2022 here. Quick facts from the Ministry of Transportation

  • The Government of Canada, through the National Trade Corridors Fund (NTCF), is making investments that will support the flow of goods across Canada’s supply chains.
  • The Government of Canada’s Budget 2022 provided $450 million over five years, starting in 2022-23, to support supply chain projects through the National Trade Corridors Fund (NTCF), which will help ease the movement of goods across Canada’s transportation networks. This additional funding brings the program’s total allocation to more than $4.6 billion over 11 years (2017-2028).
  • In 2021, international merchandise trade equalled around $1.24 trillion, a 16.8% increase from 2020 and the highest annual value of total trade on record.
  • Over the past two years, the demand for consumer goods in North America has been higher than the global average by around 5 percentage points (8% as opposed to 3%), which creates more pressure than anywhere else on transportation supply chains.
  • Transportation costs were a major driving force in accelerating overall price growth in 2021 and rose 7.2% compared to 2020, leading all major inflation categories.

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