Op-ed: Infrastructure Is the Missing Link in Canada’s Diversification Strategy

February 23, 2026

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As published in the Hill Times, an English-only outlet.

A phenomenon occurred in November 2025: Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement compliance rates for Canadian businesses increased to 87 per cent even as the United States share of Canadian exports dropped to 68 per cent, one of the lowest levels outside of the COVID years. The takeaway is that trade diversification efforts are working, as Canada’s overall trade mix is shifting away from its reliance on the U.S. 

To be clear, the objective is not to cut ourselves off from the U.S. market. If that were the case, the government, businesses, and other stakeholders wouldn’t be so focused on the upcoming review of CUSMA. Instead, we need a yes/and approach to trade. Yes, maintain preferential access to the U.S. market and build on other established trade deals and relationships. This is the roadmap to boost Canada’s economic resilience and security. 

Government appears to be on the same page. There have been reports of Prime Minister Mark Carney spearheading conversations between the European Union and member nations of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership—on top of commitments to expand Canada’s trade with Mexico—which, despite being our third-largest trading partner, is the destination for a meagre 1.1 per cent of our total exports. This is all in parallel with new, advanced, or at least restarted investment and trade relationships with the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, the United Kingdom, Ecuador, India, and China. 

While these are promising developments for Canadian exporters, the status quo on infrastructure could quickly compromise our ability to meet the moment and maximize our economic gain.

In trade, reliability is leverage and this country’s track record of late is disappointing at best. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce has consistently warned that supply-chain fragility—whether stalled projects, insufficient capacity, or a concerning pattern of work stoppages—is undermining our capacity and competitiveness. West Coast ports alone handle $800-million in cargo every single day, and shutting them down twice in the span of two years resulted in economic shockwaves that rippled across the entire country. Factories scaled back shifts. Exporters lost contracts. Retail inventories evaporated. Some shippers quietly but permanently redirected cargo to U.S. ports.  

Labour instability in critical transportation sectors is costing the country billions of dollars, and is eroding our global reputation. If we can’t establish protections or preventions from shutdowns of the transportation infrastructure that enables the trade responsible for two-thirds of our GDP, we are effectively telling businesses that we can’t guarantee that the contracts they’ve signed with new trade partners will be honoured. We risk telling workers that the paycheques they’re counting on to provide for their families may not arrive. In an era where supply chains are tight and customers have alternatives, reliability is not just a brand advantage; it is an economic necessity. 

The second step to disrupting the status quo is acting on Canada’s need for a transportation projects approval process that is designed for speed, reliability, and competitiveness.  

Long‑planned port expansions in Montreal and Vancouver are only now inching toward preliminary construction more than a decade after initial proposals. These delays don’t just make for an inconvenient planning process, they also cost Canada trade capacity, investment, and credibility. For projects underpinning national supply chains, this country needs quicker, predictable timelines, and decisions made efficiently so that we don’t lose out on economic opportunities. 

We must modernize the systems that determine whether a new intermodal hub or port expansion takes five years or 15 to be greenlit, let alone built. The prime minister encouragingly promised a “One Project, One Review” approach, a critical step toward removing layers of duplication that no longer serve the national interest, but as with the timelines for the projects themselves, we have no time to waste. 

With trade deals in place with every other G7 country and many others to come, our brand must be as a partner in North American competitiveness and a connector to the world.  

No matter how many exciting trade deals we sign, settling for the status quo on infrastructure jeopardizes our plan for economic security that hinges on diversification. 

Trade infrastructure and trade diversification intuitively go hand-in-hand; we need them progressing at the same pace, because our new customers will be counting on Canada to deliver the goods.

Pascal Chan, Vice President, Strategic policy and Supply Chains, Canadian Chamber of Commerce

Visit the Supply Chains Council and the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to learn more about the Canadian Chamber’s advocacy.