CONTAINERIZATION AT CANADIAN PORTS

Containerization has produced significant changes in the traffic of Canadian ports, reflecting both carrier and route characteristics. The formerly unified system of the St. Lawrence and its Maritime winter outports has been separated into two functionally distinct groups. Container shipping into the St. Lawrence is dominated by small carriers, calling only at Canadian ports, where they have private terminals. Sailings to Maritime ports are dominated by large carriers, serviced by common-user terminals, and deriving the bulk of their traffic from United States ports. On the west coast delay in providing adequate common-user facilities at Vancouver has resulted in substantial loss of container traffic to Seattle. The volume of Canadian container cargo reflects competition between Canadian and United States ports and their hinterland transport systems, the role of labor problems in influencing carriers' choice of port, and the nature of export commodities.