In 2019, the Port of Hamilton received a $5.5 million investment for a Pier 10 Export Expansion from the National Trade Corridors Fund (NTCF) on behalf of Transport Canada. The federal funding contributes to a $16 million overall expansion project managed by the Hamilton-Oshawa Port Authority (HOPA).

This investment will facilitate Pier 10 becoming a dedicated agri-food cluster on the port lands, creating more efficient marine infrastructure to support trade flow and building on several capital investments made by the Port Authority and its food-sector tenants over the past decade.

The Pier 10 Export Expansion will involve the relocation of Soletanche Bachy Canada, formerly Bermingham Foundations (a pile driving manufacturer) off of the pier to make room for agri-food expansion on site, and two distinct construction projects. The first construction project will be rebuilding Pier 10’s east dock wall (which was originally constructed in the early 1900s) and dredging the Wellington slip alongside it to accommodate berthing seaway vessels. The second project will be the construction of a covered storage facility to house raw sugar, grains and other dry bulk products, reducing truck trips from offsite locations. Moving Soletanche Bachy’s operation to elsewhere on the Port will also reduce the noise levels (involved in the pile-driving manufacturing process) for nearby residents in the North End.

Canadian grain company, Parrish & Heimbecker’s current expansion of its Hamilton milling facility (phase I operations began in 2017) will make P&H the single largest user of Ontario wheat. As one of the busiest exporters on the Port, the new marine infrastructure and berthage space will decrease vessel wait time (which are costly to ship operators), and make it easier for P&H to move more grain by ship.

Sucro Sourcing recently completed a granular sugar refinery and crystallization tower, adding to the liquid sugar refinery which has been in place since 2014, marking the first successful sugar production facility built in Canada since 1958, and providing a welcome competitor in the Canadian refined sugar market. Moving sugar unloading and storage to Pier 10 will also enable Sucro Sourcing to keep more product at their facility, taking thousands of trucks off of the road and reducing truck traffic on nearby residential streets.