$60M loan approved for Indigenous-led port expansion

The funds will help develop the Indigenous-led South Kaien Import Logistics Park in B.C.

Key Takeaways:

  • The Canada Infrastructure Bank is providing a $60.7 million loan to support the Metlakatla Development Corporation and Prince Rupert Port Authority in developing the South Kaien Import Logistics Park, aligning with Metlakatla’s long-term vision for regional growth.
  • The project will expand Prince Rupert’s import and transloading capabilities, with private sector investment expected to build infrastructure for handling up to 100,000 TEUs of cargo, strengthening Canada’s trade gateway to the Asia-Pacific.
  • The initiative will create direct and indirect job opportunities, particularly for Indigenous communities, while also supporting infrastructure development within the CIB’s Trade & Transportation priority sector.

The Whole Story:

The Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) has reached financial close on a $60.7 million loan to help the Metlakatla Development Corporation (MDC) and the Prince Rupert Port Authority develop the Indigenous-led South Kaien Import Logistics Park in B.C.

Funding comes from the CIB’s Indigenous Community Infrastructure Initiative (ICII) and will be used for site infrastructure needed to develop 56 acres of flat, serviced land in proximity to Fairview Terminal, CN Rail and the recently announced CANXPORT facility.  

More than half of the logistics park is leased for a logistics and warehousing complex which significantly expands and strengthens import transloading and related capabilities at the Port of Prince Rupert. The remaining 23 acres are available for lease. 

Most of the site preparation work is expected to be completed within two years and relates to heavy civil construction, land removal and levelling bedrock.  

A subsequent phase will see private sector investment build transloading and warehousing infrastructure. This will create approximately 100,000 twenty-foot-equivalent units of capacity to transload marine containers into domestic 53-foot containers.

Officials stated that this project is part of Metlakatla’s long-term vision for enabling regional growth and benefiting the next generation of its members. 

They noted that it also provides the ancillary benefits of creating and sustaining direct and indirect jobs and training opportunities for Metlakatla members and other Indigenous people in the Prince Rupert region – many of whom are already employed within the trade corridor.  

The investment is the CIB’s second in a port. In May, CIB announced a $150-million loan to help build the CANXPORT export logistics hub at another site at the Port of Prince Rupert. 

Funded through ICII, the project is within CIB’s Trade & Transportation priority sector, which is dedicated to addressing financing gaps in new projects such as ports, freight highways, roads, bridges, tunnels and passenger rail. 

The Port of Prince Rupert is a critical Canadian trade gateway that ships a diversified portfolio of cargoes through several intermodal, dry bulk and liquid bulk terminals. The Port is the closest North American west coast port to Asia-Pacific markets. The Port is also the deepest natural harbour in North America, is ice-free year-round, and is able to accommodate the largest vessels in the shipping trade.

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