Ottawa – Global supply chains continue to be under pressure by the COVID-19 pandemic, growing impacts of climate change, and fallout from the Ukraine-Russia conflict. Ensuring that our supply chains are resilient and fluid is a top priority for the Canadian Government. A well-functioning global transportation system is critical to securing supply chains, enabling global trade, and forms the backbone of nearly all sectors of the economy. Thus, it is critically important that any measures taken to address supply chains consider the important role transportation plays and are developed in consultation with industry.
The National Supply Chain Task Force, launched by the Minister of Transport will complement measures the Government is already taking, including a series of roundtables and consultations, pandemic recovery, and collaborative efforts with the U.S. The Task Force will provide independent advice to the Minister in the form of interim and final reports.
The Task Force will consult with industry experts and make independent recommendations regarding short and long-term actions to alleviate supply chain congestion. It will be active for a period of 100 days, once all members are appointed, to provide expert advice and recommendations to the federal government regarding actions that could be taken by all levels of government and industry with the objectives of increasing competition, access, reliability, resiliency, redundancy, efficiency, and investment in the national transportation system and supply chain while promoting continued international transportation services to Canada. The recommendations of the Task Force will help inform the development of a National Supply Chain Strategy, which was referenced in the 2022 federal budget.
As part of their mandate and scope of work, the Task Force will engage Canadian supply chain stakeholders and business leaders to examine pressing supply chain congestion and fluidity issues in the Canadian and global contexts.
Activities the Task Force will undertake include:
- Assessing the range of impacts on Canada’s economy, including on the volume and value of trade and the capacity of infrastructure assets to accommodate trends in flows;
- Noting collaborative opportunities to support a resilient North American and global trade network and address congestion by accounting for actions taken or considered by like-minded countries;
- Working with experts and partners in the Canadian and global contexts to identify structural weaknesses, policy or regulatory impediments, and/or market power imbalances that impact competition in modal and multi-modal sectors;
- Identifying the data, technology, and mechanisms that, individually or collectively, could be scaled to improve supply chain and transportation network visibility, operational optimization, coordinated planning, and resiliency, as well as contract certainty and conflict resolution options; and
- Establishing areas of action/recommendations that could be directed to federal and other levels of government and industry, to reduce congestion and improve the fluid and predictable operation of transportation supply chains.
The Task Force will also engage existing industry tables (e.g., Commodity Supply Chain Table), the Federal-BC Supply Chain Recovery Working Group, Canada-U.S. Supply Chain Working Group and other regional fora. Meetings are being organized around specific policy themes to support a structured approach to the Task Force’s work and recommendations.
The Task Force is initiating engagement in two phases: the first phase will involve a series of meetings with key national associations and transportation interests; the second phase will advance discussions with individual stakeholders, both in group and single meeting settings. The Task Force is required to submit two reports to the Minister of Transport: an interim report, containing early findings and potential short-term actions, that is expected early in the summer; and a final report providing substantive advice and recommendations, to be submitted by the end of the 100-day mandate. The final report will inform the Government of Canada’s National Supply Chain Strategy, as referenced in the latest federal Budget Plan.