Manitoba is a recognized leader behind the Mid-Continent Trade Corridor. The goal of Manitoba’s Mid-Continent Trade Corridor Strategy is to facilitate Manitoba’s trade requirements within the NAFTA countries through the development and maintenance of efficient and safe transportation systems.
Manitoba’s strategy views the Mid-Continent Trade Corridor as a trade and transportation system, integral to the economic development of the entire mid-North American region. Investments that reduce travel time, transport costs, or trade processing costs anywhere along the corridor, benefit the system as a whole. Manitoba also views that in order to be competitive in the new global economy, borders must not restrict a region’s economic efficiency and growth.
Manitoba views the Mid-Continent Trade Corridor as more than a route from Winnipeg to Mexico City and more than just highway pavement or railway track. The corridor is a multimodal geographic path, a ribbon of economic influence running through the center of the continent from the Arctic to Mexico, cutting a wide path through the US heartland.
Economic movement between Manitoba, US states, and Mexico accounted for $5.2 billion worth of export trade in 2007. Trade from Manitoba to Minnesota accounts for 28.8 percent of the total trade or $1.4 billion. About 37 percent of the imports came from Illinois and Minnesota for a total amount of $2.4 billion.
The City of Winnipeg and the Province of Manitoba continue to work on various projects that deal with issues important to corridor development including regulatory harmonization, border facilitation, and technological innovation. Of primary importance to all these activities is the focus on partnerships. The City of Winnipeg and the Province of Manitoba have been working cooperatively with the Canadian government, other provinces, US state governments, and corridor associations such as the North American Super Corridors Coalition (NASCO) and Canadian/American Border Trade Alliance (Can/Am BTA).