Prince Rupert – The Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) 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 British Columbia.
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, providing much needed capacity, flexibility and resiliency for Canadian supply chains.
This project is part of Metlakatla’s long-term vision for enabling regional growth and benefiting the next generation of its members.
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 this 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.
“MDC acquired the South Kaien lands in fee simple in 2019. We envision these lands as an integral part of the Prince Rupert Gateway and other commercial uses. However, SKILP is step one: MDC plans to develop the remaining 280 acres in subsequent phases to support regional growth and provide economic opportunities for the region and next generation of Metlakatla members,” said Harold Leighton, CEO, Metlakatla Development Corporation.
Shaun Stevenson, President and CEO, Prince Rupert Port Authority, declared: “This investment is vital to anchoring the Port of Prince Rupert as a full-service trade gateway. The support from CIB enables us to significantly expand logistics capabilities and capacity to increase our competitiveness, while developing long-term economic benefits for First Nations-owned businesses such as Metlakatla Development Corporation at the Port of Prince Rupert.
(Photo from CIB)