Goods from Winnipeg can reach anywhere in the world in 48 hours. The city’s excellent trade and transportation links make it a major hub for the continent.
The Mid-Continent Trade Corridor
Winnipeg is the northern gateway of this vast Corridor, a network of highways and railways linking the business community with cities to the south, through the US and into Mexico.
The Corridor is also a network of economic influence in which Winnipeg and the Province of Manitoba participate to enhance trade and investment opportunities for local business. Various projects with the Government of Canada and US governments and organizations aim to reduce travel time, transport costs, and trade processing costs along the Corridor.
Winnipeg’s position on the Corridor is a real advantage as North America becomes viewed increasingly as a single market. Winnipeg is just 17 hours by road from Chicago and eight hours from Minneapolis. As Corridor routes become more efficient, even cities to the far south can be serviced easily from Winnipeg.
Destination Winnipeg (formerly Economic Development Winnipeg) has played a lead role in the Mid-Continent Trade Corridor since 1994, and will continue to work to enhance Winnipeg’s strengths in transportation and distribution.
For more information on the Mid-Continent Trade Corridor, visit www.gov.mb.ca/itm/trade/index.html
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
NAFTA gives companies based in Canada preferred access to a market of 380 million people, with a combined GDP of more than $10 trillion.
Under NAFTA, Canada, the US, and Mexico treat each other’s goods, services, and investors as they treat their own. The agreement ensures secure access for Canadian-based exporters to both the US and Mexico. NAFTA also creates opportunities for foreign firms interested in the large North American market; international investors can access the entire North American market from a Canadian location like Winnipeg.
For more information on NAFTA, visit www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/menu-en.asp
North America’s Superhighway Coalition (NASCO)
North America’s Superhighway Coalition teams federal and state authorities with private business to promote the establishment of a network of “international trade corridors” that will facilitate the movement of people and goods throughout the nations of Canada, US, and Mexico. NASCO consists of the City of Winnipeg and the Province of Manitoba, Northern Great Plains Inc., five member US states (Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Iowa and Missouri), private businesses, and the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, which carries more international truck traffic than any other border crossing in America.
NASCO works with other trade corridors in the common goal of improving our nations’ roads to facilitate North American trade.
For more information on NASCO, visit www.nasco-itc.com