The trade group says adding customs facilities to six ports on the St. Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes would improve shipping efficiency, cut truck congestion and reduce reliance on the United States. Currently, just five ports across the country have Canada Border Services Agency officers on hand to examine some of the millions of international shipping containers that arrive by boat.
Chamber spokesman Maguessa Morel-Laforce says a study it commissioned found that outfitting the half-dozen inland ports with customs processing would ease bottlenecks at the Port of Montreal and generate $132 million in business income.