Cargo tonnage handled by port on the Maritime Transportation System 2015

Background The economy of the Great Lakes region relies on maritime shipping to deliver raw materials to critical industries and bring agricultural products and manufactured goods to market. Unfortunately, there has been no reliable, easily accessible database available to track maritime shipping year-to-year. During the pilot phase, Blue Accounting gathered annual estimates of maritime cargo tonnage to and through Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River ports. This metric was chosen to provide insight into tonnage and value trends over time. Data Sources Data for this metric came from the following main sources: The US Army Corps of Engineers Waterborne Commerce Statistics Center, which provides information on the tonnage of specific commodities loaded and unloaded at specific ports, as well as the tonnage and origin/destination ports of specific commodities moved in foreign trade. Canadian Port Authorities (CPAs) The Maritime Information System (MIS), which tracks tonnage handled at ports in Quebec. The Martin Associates’ Great Lakes economic impact studies, which provides the most-comprehensive estimates of tonnage and value for select years. Limitations This metric should be considered a rough estimate. Statistics Canada (StatCan) discontinued its the Shipping in Canada report in 2012. After 2011, the only readily-available data on tonnage handled at Ontario ports are annual statistics collected and reported by the five Canada Port Authorities (CPA) in the province: Thunder Bay, Windsor, Hamilton, Toronto, and Oshawa. Therefore, there is a lack of data available on TH at Ontario ports that are not part of Canada Port Authorities. In Quebec, the Blue Accounting Team used data from the Maritime Information System, which covers all CPAs, and some non-CPA ports.