SURREY, British Columbia — The Canadian government will provide up to C$23 million in funding to expand an agricultural shipping terminal near the U.S. border, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra announced Friday.
Money provided from the National Trade Corridors Fund will expand rail capacity at Global Agricultural Trans-Loading in Surrey, B.C., by helping to pay for a three-track rail spur, container lifts, railcar pushers, conveyer-belt systems, and bagging equipment.
“This investment will help reduce delays and bottlenecks while transferring agricultural products from one mode of transportation to another, ensuring Canada’s products reach global markets efficiently,” Alghabra said in a press release. “It will also help grow our economy and create good, middle-class jobs.”
The 5-acre transloading facility along the Fraser River in north Surrey is adjacent to Canadian National’s Thornton Yard, the largest rail terminal in Western Canada. The company’s CEO, Johnny Sangha, said the expansion would allow the facility to double its capacity to 1.5 million metric tons, and will facilitate $1 billion in trade for the Canadian market. “This will produce significant positive outcomes for Canadian farmers, traders, transport companies, product vendors, overseas buyers,” Sangha told Global News. “We are very excited by this.”
