Construction starts in earnest on Montreal port container terminal

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday announced a groundbreaking for a long-planned container terminal in Contrecoeur, Quebec, for the Montreal Port Authority (MPA). 

The terminal will boost the port’s capacity by about 60%, making it the largest eastern port expansion in Canadian history, according to the MPA. The port will gain up to 1.15 million 20-foot equivalent units in annual container handling capacity. 

Construction of the new terminal will include a new wharf with two ship berths, an intermodal marshalling yard connected to the port’s main rail network and a CN line, an access road, and operations and administrative buildings. 

The project was first proposed nearly 40 years ago but has been subject to delays since then. The MPO has worked with the Canadian federal government, province of Quebec, Indigenous partners and private-sector parties to advance the project. 

“The Contrecoeur Container Terminal Project is about more than the expansion of a port — it is a signal that Canada is building again,” said Carney in a press release. “In less than seven months, this project went from a proposal to a construction site. That is the speed and ambition we need to build Canada strong." 

Work is expected to ramp up in 2027 on building out terminal and logistics infrastructure, with commercial operations targeted to start in 2030.