Following a series of port strikes across Canada during the past few weeks, ports and terminals have reopened this week after the government intervened.
The Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) ordered a return to work and operations resumed at Montreal and the west coast ports last weekend. However, the strike period has resulted in a huge backlog of containers and there is likely to be a considerable disruption until it is cleared.
Vessels have been queuing at anchor at both Vancouver and Montreal and thousands of containers have been sitting at the troubled ports.
Montreal has been the subject of a union enforced overtime ban for weeks, a 24-hour walkout and two of its terminals had been on an indefinite strike since October 31st, while west coast ports like Vancouver have been on strike since November 4th.
Backlogs have not just impacted the strike-hit ports. Many rail freight terminals had to halt operations during the dispute and have become heavily congested, while some ports without strike action, such as Halifax, have also been affected.
Killick Martin will be monitoring developments during the next few weeks and hopefully a return to normal operations in Canada is not too far away. Should you be concerned about current or upcoming shipments then please do not hesitate to contact one of our team.
