Laurentia project - Deep-water container terminal in Quebec

Where the river drives greatness.

QUÉBEC-SUR-MER

Renewing our gateway to the world

A beautiful, historic and vibrant port city, Québec City has a past — and future —inextricably bound to the St. Lawrence, driver of prosperity for the city, the province and the country. But shipping is changing, and our continental competitors are adapting quickly, positioning themselves to lead. Without our own inland, deep-water container ship terminal, the future relevance of the St. Lawrence Trade Corridor is threatened.

LAURENTIA, the deep-water, environmentally and technologically advanced, intermodal container ship terminal project advanced by the Port of Québec and its partners, will help ensure that our historic economic advantages don’t continue to drift away.

Discover this exciting project…

Positive impact

7,000 jobs

The project will create 1,731 jobs per year during the construction phase, which is expected to last 4 years, for a total of nearly 7,000 jobs.

3 major partners

The Port of Québec is proud to have Hutchison Ports, the world’s largest container terminal operator, and CN, North America’s premier railroad operator, as partners for the construction and operation of the terminal.

15 M Water depth

The new standard along the Eastern Seaboard is to have a draft of 15 meters for both the shipping channel and the port access, something the Port of Québec has naturally.

100+ M

Population basin served by the Laurentia Terminal. This basin extends from Eastern Québec to the American Midwest.

18.5 % less greenhouse gas emissions

Laurentia will reduce overall GHG emissions across the entire logistics chain, from overseas port to end customer.

13,000 TEUs

Laurentia will accommodate large vessels, i.e. container ships with the capacity to carry up to 13,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent unit), which will provide significant economies of scale for our importers and exporters, and provide a real ability to compete with U.S. ports.

~ $100 M in economic impact

Annual national value-added economic impact.

~ 1,000 quality jobs

Once the terminal is at full capacity, Laurentia will create 1,000 direct, indirect, and spinoff jobs across the country.

$775 M project cost

As a $775 million project mostly financed by two private partners, Laurentia will play a significant role in restarting a key sector of the Canadian economy.

Environment

The Community The Economy Innovation

Where the river makes us rethink the efficiency and sustainability of what we have been doing for centuries

Laurentia will be one of the world’s most modern and innovative intermodal container terminals. The project has been carefully designed as a terminal of the future using an integrated sustainable development approach. Numerous third party studies have confirmed that Laurentia’s port activities will produce the lowest carbon footprint of any terminal in North America.

Since signing their partnership agreement, Hutchison Ports, CN, and the Port of Québec have been hard at work optimizing planned operations at Laurentia. The deep-water container terminal will use the most advanced technology in North America, resulting in a 40% reduction in GHG emissions compared to an existing conventional terminal.

The site will be heavily automated and equipped with a large fleet of electrical equipment, including dockside gantry cranes and automated stacking cranes. The electrical and hybrid machinery and reduction in truck transportation will minimize the port’s ecological footprint on the St. Lawrence River and the atmosphere.

Environment

The Community

The Economy Innovation

Where the river lies at the heart of our history, but also, our daily lives

Laurentia will benefit both foreign and domestic enterprises, but its impact will be greatest here at home. Import-export businesses in Ontario and Québec will have access to a faster, more efficient international shipping route. By creating a new logistics chain that reduces shipping times to international markets such as Asia and Europe, Laurentia will pave the way to greater prosperity for the St. Lawrence. Furthermore, Laurentia’s environmental commitments and distinctive actions for the region and the province will bring international attention and recognition to Québec.

The Port of Québec has also had the privilege of soliciting input from a number of First Nations as part of the project’s environmental assessment process. These constructive discussions have been a source of valuable information and First Nations knowledge about the local environment. This information will be used to improve the project and the environmental monitoring activities for the terminal. Laurentia has also provided an opportunity to pursue and enrich the ongoing relationship between the Port of Québec and the Huron-Wendat Nation.

Beyond the support for the project, Laurentia will bolster Québec’s international reputation. Construction of a deep-water container terminal is part of the Port of Québec’s desire to be part of the network of major port cities by building on its rich maritime history. Ever-increasing ship capacities have led to major changes in maritime shipping routes and logistics. Québec City is fully equipped to become a hub for container transshipment in the Great Lakes and Eastern Québec markets, just as it is for bulk shipping.

The project is responsible, sustainable, and carefully conceived to benefit Québec City and its population. In considering the impact of building the terminal, the Port of Québec made a commitment to turn certain constraints into opportunities. The project also involves changes to Beauport Bay, the public beach adjacent to port facilities. Once completed, it will provide the public with a 255,000 m2 recreational space.

“Breton Tradition 1944 Inc. and its subsidiaries are North American leaders in natural and organic pork production. The company exports its products and has business ties all over the world. The new deep-water container terminal will make for a better, more competitive intermodal transportion chain and will greatly benefit companies like ours.”
Vincent Breton, President and CEO, Breton Tradition 1944

“As a supplier of food logistics solutions for the food and retail industries, Congebec depends on a solid, efficient, and reliable logistics chain to underpin its business operations. The Laurentia project checks off all of these boxes and represents an ideal local solution that will generate significant economies of scale for our company.”
Nicholas-P. Pedneault, President and CEO, Congebec

Environment The Community

The Economy

Innovation

Where the river is the center of our jobs and our economy

As a $775 million project mostly financed by its three partners, Laurentia will play a pivotal role driving economic revival in a key sector of the Canadian economy.

Located in Québec City, the deep-water container terminal will have unique competitive advantages: its geographic proximity with Europe, its water depth, and its access to rail connections to Ontario and the Midwest. In that regard, Québec City is a natural and logical East Coast gateway that not only provides greater access to the wider world, but also a chance to build on what we already have here at home.

The shifting centre of gravity in Asian trade also has an influence on the value of the Laurentia project. The growing prominence of Southwest Asia makes shipping routes through the Suez Canal much more competitive, resulting in a shift from North America’s West to East Coast.

Not only will the Laurentia Terminal allow local importers and exporters to optimize costs, it will also drive port activity on the St. Lawrence River. It’s an opportunity for the St. Lawrence River, Québec, and Canada to reclaim some of the market share lost to American ports in years past and to kick-start trade growth along the St. Lawrence corridor while generating significant economic benefits.

“Hutchison Ports was chosen because it is a world-class operator with customer-focused expertise and it shares our business vision of prioritizing supply chain efficiency, innovation, security, and the environment. Today, through the joint venture with Hutchison Ports and CN, we’re laying the groundwork to ensure this project becomes a model of business success and social acceptability in North America, as well as a motor of Québec’s economic development. This will generate additional growth along the St. Lawrence corridor and make us more competitive with American ports.”
Mario Girard, President and CEO of the Québec Port Authority.

“We’re very happy to be teaming up with the Québec Port Authority and CN to develop this terminal and make Québec City our gateway on North America’s East Coast. With its fully intermodal deep-water port, strategic location vis-à-vis the American Midwest, and strong support from local authorities, the Québec City terminal project has all the ingredients to make it a success in this high-potential market.”
Eric Ip, Group Managing Director, Hutchison Ports.

“In an economy where consumer spending drives global shipping, long-distance supply chains need to be modern, cost-effective, and reliable. Hutchison is a world-class container operator, and we know we’re partnering with a group that has everything it takes to make the project a success.”
Jean-Jacques Ruest, President and CEO of CN Rail.

Environment The Community The Economy

Innovation

Where the river really makes it possible to dream big, to rethink efficiency and to innovate

Laurentia is a smart and ambitious project designed to act as a strong catalyst for growth. From the very beginning, this exciting, visionary initiative drew notice from the biggest global players in innovation. As a technologically and environmentally advanced terminal, Laurentia will make Québec City a flagship for North American port operations and a new world hub for maritime and logistic innovation.

Laurentia will be the launch pad for a whole new ecosystem. It will bring together seven major maritime, transport, and research partners and drive Québec’s scientific and business communities to acquire new expertise. The advanced logistics and sustainable maritime transport technologies used at the Laurentia Terminal will spark new entrepreneurial initiatives and the creation of new business ventures.

In terms of maritime trade, Québec City’s container terminal will create a new intermodal logistics corridor expected to revitalize the St. Lawrence Valley economy. What’s more, new partnerships emerging from the innovation zone will result in even greater technological improvements and optimization in the coming years. All this will ensure the Port of Québec and the St. Lawrence River supply chain continue to be at the forefront of fast, efficient trade between North America and world markets.

“When you see the quality of the partners joining this venture, you realize it’s a unique opportunity for the City of Québec to reposition itself within global trading networks. Not only will Laurentia be one of the greenest and most technologically advanced terminal facilities in North America, the economic impact for the city and surrounding region will exceed $100 million each year.”
Régis Labeaume, Mayor of Québec

“With the energy transition and digital shift generating rapid and far-reaching changes in port supply chains, innovation has become critical for every port and every actor along the supply chain. Linking the Québec City and Rotterdam port innovation ecosystems will create new opportunities for both.”
René van der Plas, Director, Port of Rotterdam International

“By creating the most technologically advanced and greenest logistics hub in North America, the Laurentia project is perfectly aligned with the mission and vision of the PortXL Network. As an international accelerator, we couldn’t have asked for a better partner than the City of Québec to help us foster sustainable maritime growth in North America.”
Carolien Vat-Sandee, Director and Founder, PortXL

“As an economic development agency for Québec businesses, Québec International is proud to partner with the promoters of the Laurentia project to establish the port zone as an international business hub integral to the city’s DNA.”
Carl Viel, President and CEO, Québec International

“Université Laval is proud to be a research partner to the port in the fields of artificial intelligence, supply chain optimization, and green technology. This ambitious project will help the City of Québec attract and mobilize talent in this high-potential industry.”
Sophie D’Amours, Rector, Université Laval