First B.C., now Montreal: What a pair of port shutdowns means for Canada

Dock workers in both British Columbia and Montreal have now been locked out as negotiations stall between unions and employers. Here's what that means for Canadian consumers.

Locked-out workers at ports in British Columbia were joined on the picket lines by their peers in Montreal on Sunday night, stymying trade at Canada’s two largest marine trading hubs heading into the busy holiday shopping season.

While experts tell Global News that consumers will hopefully avoid a Christmas crunch, they also warn that the latest kinks in the Canadian supply chain could affect hopes for an economic rebound.

“This has been a constant drumbeat of disruptions in the logistics and transportation sector over the last year, year and a half,” says Fraser Johnson, professor of operations management at Western University’s Ivey Business School.

“It’s been a constant problem and a lot of headaches for Canadian companies.”

The labour dispute shutting down cargo container traffic at British Columbia’s ports for a week now has shown little signs of moving towards resolution, with the parties breaking off talks on Saturday.

The next day, dock workers in Montreal voted to reject their employers’ latest offer, leading to another lockout starting Sunday evening.

Johnson tells Global News the ports in B.C. represent roughly 45 per cent of inbound marine shipments to Canada, with the Port of Montreal handling 10 per cent.

In other words, more than half of all goods coming into Canada by sea are currently disrupted by the twin shutdowns.