THOROLD, Ontario – The Hamilton Oshawa Port Authority (HOPA) and developer Bioveld Canada Inc. are cooperating to create a multimodal hub in Thorold, Ontario. The site is adjacent to the Welland Canal, which connects Lake Ontario to Lake Erie.
The Thorold Multimodal Hub has more than 500,000 square feet of warehouse space and a 200-acre outdoor storage and material handling space. Available spaces include a central warehouse, several other warehousing sites, truck dock and bays, train shed and manufacturing shops, as well as a wood shop, auto shop and offices. Some spaces are turnkey while others can be customized.
The Hub comprises space owned by HOPA Ports, as well as a 155-acre former paper mill. The decommissioned mill was purchased recently by Bioveld, which specializes in the productive repurposing of brownfield and industrial sites.
This new regional facility will be managed by HOPA Ports, through its subsidiary Great Lakes Port Management. It will also include on-site property management and development services provided by HOPA Ports’ experienced team.
“As Ontario positions itself for an economic recovery, and as the province’s population and congestion issues grow, it just makes sense for us to be making better use of Ontario’s industrial and multimodal transportation capacity,” said Ian Hamilton, president and CEO of HOPA Ports.
“With all of its advantages, Niagara is a natural place to invest.”
HOPA Ports already operates integrated port facilities in Hamilton and Oshawa.
The Thorold Multimodal Hub is the first step in the Niagara Ports plan, which was agreed by HOPA Ports and Niagara civic stakeholders in September. Niagara Ports is a plan to create a corridor of multimodal industrial hubs along the Welland Canal in Niagara. Other hubs, in Port Colborne and Welland, are currently in conceptual stages.
“This Multimodal Hub in Thorold is just the first step in the establishment of the Niagara Ports Trade Corridor. By working together with our partners, such as HOPA and Bioveld, we are improving supply-chain efficiency and transportation logistics, strengthening our region to become an innovative, economic, transportation/logistics-based leader,” Vance Badawey, MP Niagara Centre and Chair, Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities
“With our close proximity to major markets and recently ratified trade agreements that elevates our economic population to 1.8 billion, Niagara contributes to the inseparable relationship between Canada’s international trade performance and the integrated economies with our trading partners.”
Great Lakes Port Management (GLPM) is the manager of the new Thorold Multimodal Hub and a wholly owned subsidiary of Hamilton Oshawa Port Authority (HOPA Ports). As an integrated port network, HOPA Ports offers port and marine assets on the Great Lakes.
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