CentrePort Canada, created by provincial legislation in 2008, has for 15 years worked to grow Manitoba’s economy as a tri-modal inland transportation hub, straddling the RM of Rosser and the City of Winnipeg. Since its inception, CentrePort has attracted more than $1 billion in private-sector investment and, with the laying down of water services to CentrePort South, now is poised to enter a new era of growth.
As North America’s largest inland port, it has 20,000 acres under its authority, dwarfing the footprint of competing inland ports. To date, just 2,300 of its developable 13,000 acres are either developed or under development. Its most recent developments include the CentrePort Canada Rail Port and the early stages of CentrePort South.
Development Impacts at Full Build-Out for both CentrePort North & South:
- 98,377 person-years of employment;
- $1.18 billion in provincial tax revenue; and,
- a boost to Manitoba’s GDP of $7.9 billion
MHCA President & CEO Chris Lorenc, is a founding member of the CentrePort Canada Board of Directors. He has served as a member at large, Chair of its Governance Committee, Vice-Chair, Board Chair and continues to serve on the Board as its current Chair of the Governance Committee. Lorenc was chair of the Mayor’s Trade Council (2007008), the recommendations report of which is often cited as the genesis of CentrePort Canada.
In a congratulatory video, Premier Wab Kinew and former premier Gary Doer paid tribute to those who’s vision launched CentrePort. Doer noted that the inland port sits at “the centre of Canada,” and that the vision of those early promoters and Manitoba’s geographic advantages worked together to bring the dream to reality.
“Manitoba can and should be a global leader in trade and transportation,” CentrePort President & CEO Carly Edmundson told a November 2024 celebratory lunch, hosted by the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce. “It’s been our destiny as a province for a long time.”
