Green Shipping Corridor Program unveiled by Transport Canada
Transport Canada has released its Green Shipping Corridor Program with an investment of $165.4 million aimed at significantly reducing pollution from marine shipping. The program seeks to establish more environmentally friendly maritime corridors by implementing specific measures to minimize the shipping industry’s environmental impacts.
The program will establish green shipping corridors and help to decarbonize the marine sector in major shipping areas along the Great Lakes, the St. Lawrence Seaway, and on Canada's East and West Coasts.
Key objectives include the implementation of stringent environmental standards, the development of clean technologies, and financial support for initiatives promoting more eco-friendly navigation.
The program will be delivered through:
- The Clean Ports stream, which will provide funding to support the adoption of clean technology and infrastructure at ports and terminals;
- The Clean Vessel Demonstration stream, which will provide funding to study, test, and pilot clean fuel propulsion systems for shipping vessels.
Applications for funding are accepted through the Transport Canada website.
Prince Rupert Port Authority to establish Green Shipping Corridors
The Prince Rupert Port Authority (PRPA) signed the global memorandum of understanding on multi-port multi-jurisdiction green shipping corridors (MOU) to establish international green shipping corridors from Canada’s west coast to Asia and the Middle East.
Signed December 6 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, during the COP28, the MOU will support the establishment of a West Coast Green Shipping Corridor. It will connect Edmonton to Prince Rupert to ports in Asia and the Middle East and build on PRPA’s ongoing commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping through the Port of Prince Rupert.
“Together with our port industry, Indigenous, and local community partners, we are committed to realizing a shared vision of a thriving and sustainable trade gateway that ensures a vibrant future for western Canada, and we are taking concrete action to address climate change and reduce the impacts of port activity,” said Shaun Stevenson, President and CEO, Prince Rupert Port Authority.
The Port of Prince Rupert commits to supporting an accelerated transition to developing zero-emission solutions for port operations. This includes expanding electrification capabilities like shore power, increasing the availability of alternative fuels and refuelling infrastructure and proactively integrating other elements of sustainability such as waste management, marine mammal protection and addressing barriers to port sustainability.
In 2010, the Port of Prince Rupert became the first port outside the St. Lawrence and Great Lakes Region to join Green Marine.