Ontario's Welland Canal, a key link in North American supply chain, reopens Wednesday
CBC
The Welland Canal — a key link in the North American supply chain — is set to open on Wednesday following a three-month closure for maintenance.
The canal connects Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, and forms a key section of the St. Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes Waterway.
The Quebec section, the St. Lawrence Seaway, was closed on Dec. 31, while the Welland Canal was shut down on Jan. 9.
President and CEO of the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation Terence F. Bowles says the seaway provides "very important" economic benefits, noting that it links the heartland of North America, including the U.S. Midwest and Western Canada with some 60 countries.
"Last year we handled some 37 million tonnes of cargo through the seaway," Bowles told CBC Hamilton.
"So, today it has an effect of some $60 billion on the U.S.-Canadian economy and it supports around 300,000 jobs."
Bowles says the seaway also has "a very large impact" on the shipment of grain to various areas in Canada, Europe, Africa and other parts of the world.
Additionally, he said the seaway facilitates the shipment of sugar, iron ore that supplies steel plants, and it has a direct impact on construction happening in the Niagara Region and also infrastructure works throughout Canada.
To mark the opening, the St. Catharines Museum will hold a Top Hat Ceremony at 10 a.m. on Wednesday.
Sean Dineley, public programer at the museum, said it's an annual tradition.
"On the opening day of the canal, the first vessel that comes through there's a ceremony and the captain of the vessel is presented with a ceremonial top hat," Dineley told CBC Hamilton.
He said it's "a traditional honour" for the first captain of the season.
Bowles said the corporation is looking forward to the season ahead, as are manufacturing plants in Hamilton, Thunder Bay and elsewhere.
"We think it's going to be an excellent season. There is a lot of grain in the silos out west in Thunder Bay and so people are anxious to get that wheat moving out toward the people that need it," Bowles said.
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