Canada Port Strike Over But Backlogs Remain

Following a succession of port strikes throughout Canada during the past few weeks, all ports and terminals have reopened this week after the government intervened.

The Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) ordered workers to the return to work and operations resumed at Montreal and the west coast ports at the weekend. However, the strike period has resulted in an enormous 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 sat idle at the stricken ports.

Montreal has faced a union enforced overtime ban for weeks, a 24-hour complete 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 are not just limited to the strike-hit ports. Several rail 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.

Atlantic Pacific 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.