The port provides access to tri-modal transportation: (1) rail—three Class I railways, specifically Canadian National (CNR), Canadian Pacific (CPR), and BNSF Railway; (2) air—a 24/7 international air cargo airport; and (3) road—an international trucking hub.[4] CentrePort also offers greenfield investment opportunities for a wide variety of business operations, including distribution, warehousing, and manufacturing. The portion of the inland port that falls within Rosser has access to a Special Planning Area to streamline the land development approval process.[4]
CentrePort Canada Way is a 10 km (6.2 mi) expressway that links Winnipeg's Inkster Boulevard to the Perimeter Highway, and allows for 5 minutes to 90 km/h (56 mph). Located near the geographic centre of North America, it serves as a hub for national and international trading corridors, as well as attracting new transportation logistics development to the city area.[5] Moreover, Winnipeg has direct connections to both of Canada's only major Pacific ports, Port of Vancouver and the Port of Prince Rupert, as well as a direct connection to Churchill, Manitoba, a major grain export facility and the only Canadian deep-water Arctic port.
CentrePort Canada was created in 2008 by provincial legislation called the CentrePort Canada Act, which established its mandate and designated land to the port.[6] The Act also defines the structure of the board of directors and includes nominees from 11 nominating organizations and 4 directors at large.[7]
an international trucking hub, which includes two of Canada’s largest companies—Bison Transport and TransX.[9]
CentrePort also offers greenfield investment opportunities for a wide variety of business operations, including distribution, warehousing, and manufacturing.
CentrePort also has partnerships with post-secondary institutions, namely Red River College (RRC) and Manitoba Institute of Trades & Technology. For agribusiness, there are specialized industry training programs at the University of Manitoba (Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences/ Transport Institute), University of Winnipeg (Richardson College for Environment and Science), and RRC (Paterson GlobalFoods Institute).
The portion of CentrePort Canada within the Rural Municipality of Rosser has been established as the "Inland Port Special Planning Area," wherein land use is regulated by the Development Plan and Zoning By-law,[8] helping to expedite planning and the land-development approval process.[10]
In 2020, CentrePort Canada announced a new project to be completed by the end of 2021: InkSport Business Park, a $65-million, 68-acre industrial park built by Whiteland Developers.[11]
Since its inception, 100 new companies have chosen to locate at the inland port and CentrePort has 2000 acres in active development. CentrePort is home to various mining and heavy equipment manufacturers & suppliers including, ISCO Industries,[13] SMS Equipment,[14] and Cassidy Manufacturing.
Regarding the transportation and logistics sector, CentrePort is home to two of Canada’s largest companies, Bison Transport and TransX; houses operations for Gardewine, Payne Transport, Paul’s Hauling, Meyers Bros Trucking, 4Tracks Ltd., etc.; and houses new facilities by FedEx, Freight Canada, Pacific Coast Express, and Rosedale Transport.
New company facilities at CentrePort include:
a pea and canola protein processing plant (94,000 sqft) of Merit Functional Foods;
a distribution centre (100,000 sqft) of Groupe Touchette, which is the largest Canadian-owned tire distribution company;
a $1.45 million plant of Eautopia Biological Technology that produces custom bottles, labels, and beverages;
CentrePort Canada Way is a four-lane, 10 km (6.2 mi) expressway that links Winnipeg's Inkster Boulevard to the Perimeter Highway, and allows for 5 minutes to 90 km/h (56 mph). As Winnipeg is located near the geographic centre of North America, it serves as a hub for national and international trading corridors, as well as attracting new transportation logistics development to the city area.[5]
Plans to build CentrePort Canada Way was announced on 14 April 2009, when Prime Minister Stephen Harper with Manitoba Premier Gary Doer declared at James Richardson Airport that both the federal and provincial governments would contribute CA$212.5 million towards a divided four-lane expressway.[20] In March 2014, the Province of Manitoba announced that it would double CentrePort Canada Way to bypass the Rural Municipality of Headingley and connect directly into the TransCanada Highway (PTH 1).[21] The expressway subsequently opened in November 2013.[20]
The expressway is also situated within about $1 billion in supporting highway infrastructure.
A new industrial park named CentrePort Canada Rail Park[22] is in development on 665 acres (2.69 km2) of CentrePort's 20,000 acres (81 km2) of land, located west of the Winnipeg Airport. The Rail Park is currently in development (as of February 2021[update]) and, when complete, will provide rail serviced industrial land for companies engaged in global supply chain activities. The Rail Park is intended to further enhance access to the three Class I rail carriers that are already provided by CentrePort, with CPR and CNR in particular operating significant intermodal yards in Winnipeg.[5]
