View the most recent version.

Highlights

1. Canadian ports handled record-breaking levels of freight for the fourth consecutive year in 2005, as international cargo hit another high. Overall, shipments increased at 14 of the country’s top 20 ports.
2. The nation’s ports handled a record 470.1 million metric tonnes of cargo during the year, up 3.7% from the previous record set in 2004.
3. Domestic cargo remained stable. Gains occurred in shipments of logs and other wood in the rough, stone, sand, gravel and crushed stone, other metallic ores and concentrates, gasoline and aviation turbine fuel and newsprint. However, these were offset by losses in iron ores and concentrates, fuel oils and coal.
4. Ports and marine terminals under 19 Canadian port authorities handled 53.2% of the total cargo, up slightly from their share in 2004. Activity at these port authorities increased 5.2% in 2005, a faster pace than the growth rate of 4.5% in 2004.
5. International container traffic at Canadian ports hit another high during 2005. Ports handled more than 3.8 million twenty-foot equivalents (TEUs) containing 31.9 million tonnes of cargo in 2005. However, the growth rate for both volume and tonnage of containerized cargo slipped from 2004.
6. The Port of Vancouver, Canada’s busiest port, handled more than 78.3 million metric tonnes of cargo, up 4.6% from 2004. This increase was due to improved shipments of several bulk commodities, coupled with a record volume of containerized tonnage.
7. The biggest percentage gain occurred at the port of Sept-Îles, including Pointe-Noire, which handled 22.2 million tonnes of cargo in 2005, a gain of 30.7% or 5.2 million tonnes. Settlement of labour disputes at two of the region’s three iron ore mining operations resulted in a substantial gain in outbound shipments of iron ores and concentrates.
8. Tonnage handled at Port Hawkesbury climbed 27.9% to 30.7 million tonnes. This was an increase of 6.7 million tonnes, the biggest absolute change. This was mainly due to increased international shipments of crude petroleum.
9. The biggest decline occurred at Come-By-Chance, where tonnage fell 3.0 million tonnes or 7.2%, the second consecutive annual decrease. The decline was due mainly to lower outbound international shipments of crude petroleum from the port, which dropped by 2.2 million tonnes.
10. The Port of Saint John, N.B., handled 27.4 million tonnes of cargo, up 4.6%. Contributing to the increase were higher tonnages of crude petroleum, gasoline and aviation turbine fuel, fuel oils and other refined petroleum and coal products.
11. At the Port of Montréal, including Contrecoeur, activity rose 3.7% to 24.1 million tonnes. This was the result of higher shipments of gasoline and aviation turbine fuel and other manufactured and miscellaneous goods.
12. Total shipments to and from the United States reached 128.7 million tonnes in 2005, the highest level since 1990.
13. This was due to higher shipments of crude petroleum to the Atlantic and Gulf Coast states coupled with increased tonnage of coal and iron ores and concentrates from the Great Lakes region. Higher shipments of logs and other wood in the rough to the US Pacific region also contributed.
14. International marine traffic with the rest of the world (other than the United States) increased 5.5% to almost 202.3 million tonnes in 2005. This was well above the level of 191.7 million tonnes in 2004.
15. Tonnage increased for six out of top 10 commodities shipped to and from Asia, including coal and iron ores and concentrates.