Canada’s project market is beginning to boom with investments for renewable energy, oil and gas and large-scale infrastructure.
There is much evidence of growing momentum on the Canadian market for project cargo and heavy lift shipping. It is driven by robust demand and investments for renewable energy, oil and gas and large-scale infrastructure projects.
Not only the country’s larger ports – namely Vancouver, Montreal, Quebec. Prince Rupert, Halifax, and Saint John – have invested in the infrastructure needed to handle breakbulk, project and heavy lift cargoes.
On the St. Lawrence River, the ports of Trois-Rivières and Bécancour are developing this niche business. Some 40-miles southwest of Montreal, the Port of Valleyfield specializes in the transshipment of bulk, general and project cargo – and acts as a major service point for supplies to the Canadian and Quebec Arctic communities.
Great Lakes & St. Lawrence Seaway
On the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Seaway waterway, the Hamilton Oshawa Port Authority (HOPA), with its terminal partners LOGISTEC and QSL providing the cranes and other specialized equipment necessary for project and heavy lift operations, is steadily increasing project volume at the Hamilton and Oshawa harbour facilities. Project cargo is also handled at the Port of Toronto as well as the Port of Windsor which has been expanding ship berth and warehouse space.
On the tip of Lake Superior, one finds the Port of Thunder Bay, which in recent years has had a virtual meteoric rise as a project gateway for Western Canada. It receives shipments mainly from Europe of wind energy components, steel products and mining equipment destined for Alberta and Saskatchewan.
“In 2025, our Keefer Terminal had 20 vessel calls totaling 128,491 metric tons, including commodities such as steel rail, steel pipe, wind turbine components and other general project cargo,” port CEO Chris Heikkinen told AJOT. “Project cargo volumes increased year-over-year compared to 2024, reflecting steady demand for specialized cargo movements through the terminal. In 2026, we expect overall throughput to remain consistent with 2025 levels. While pipe volumes may soften somewhat due to evolving tariff considerations (arising from Trump Administration measures), we anticipate continued stability across our broader cargo mix.”
According, to the Canadian Renewable Energy Association (CanREA), Canada’s installed capacity of wind energy, solar energy & energy storage is now more than 25 GW, up by 56% in the last five years.
“The momentum is building fast. We expect Canada’s installed wind, solar, and energy storage capacity to grow by a third in the next four years and double in the next decade,” says Vittoria Bellissimo, CanREA’s President and CEO. “At CanREA, we are working hard to clear the path ahead and reduce the friction to building clean energy projects from coast to coast.”
There are presently nearly 350 wind energy projects generating power across the country.
Modules and Other Equipment for LNG projects
LNG projects in Canada are also offering major opportunities for specialized carriers.
This has notably been the case in the past few years of the C$40 billion LNG Canada project, located in Kitimat, British Columbia and one of the largest energy investments in Canadian history. LNG Canada and its joint venture participants (including Shell Canada Energy) recently carried out a 25th ocean export shipment to Asia since the partly-completed facility began operations in mid-2025. Phase 1 is designed to produce 6.5 million metric tons per annum.
Now the Woodfibre LNG project in Squamish, British Columbia - touted as the world’s lowest emission LNG facility - is emerging as Canada’s second entry in the global energy market.
This past January, the C$5 billion Woodfibre LNG moved another step closer to completion with the arrival of two massive modules aboard a specialized heavy lift vessel, the Seaway Swan, operated by Netherlands-based Seaway 7.
The Pretreatment module and the ProcessUtility module mark the 13th and 14th modules arriving to the Woodfibre LNG project site, pushing construction progress to close to 60 per cent complete. Another five modules are due to arrive over the next few months. Slated to start operations in 2027, the project is designed to produce 2.1 million metric tons annually.
“These modules are critical building blocks of Woodfibre LNG; both serving critical functions within the operations of our future facility,” says Luke Schauerte, CEO, Woodfibre LNG, “It’s tremendously exciting to move another step closer to construction completion and bringing more Canadian LNG to global markets.”
The Pretreatment module removes impurities from natural gas feedstock, such as any moisture or any trace gases so the gas meets strict specifications for liquefaction. The Process Utility module supplies the critical common process utilities for the LNG process, including the tempered cooling water system, hot oil heating system and the thermal oxidizer.
Atlantic Canada Developments
In Atlantic Canada, the Wind West Atlantic Energy project in Nova Scotia is poised to become Canada’s first offshore wind development. It has been identified by the federal government’s newly-created Major Projects Office to be assessed for support.
Elsewhere in the region, on the southern coast of Newfoundland, the Port of Argentia is continuing to pursue its ambition of a unique marshalling yard and hub in North America for massive monopiles shipped from Europe destined for wind farms on the US East Coast. It also receives numerous turbine blades.
In the past year, extra pressure was put on the port’s storage facility due to the Trump Administration’s freeze on five US offshore wind projects. But federal court judges have over-turned Interior Department orders in the past few weeks, allowing construction to resume – seemingly good news for the Port of Argentia.
Summing up current developments, port marketing manager Ellen Davis, told AJOT: “In 2025, we received 32 monopiles, and 15 were shipped out. To date in 2026, we have received 14, with none shipping out. For the remainder of 2026, we expect to receive 13 more, with some shipping out as well.”
Project Carrier Perspectives
Among project carriers serving the Canadian market, Marko Stampehl, Global Head of Marketing & Public Relations of BBC Chartering, reports that “2025 represented an upswing of our activities to and from Canada. Most prominently, our LakerMax series performed first passages through the Great Lakes St Lawrence Seaway System, by that proving in reality that “LakerMax” is a fitting description.
“With the inbound trade to Canada being dominated by equipment, machinery, and renewable energy components, it is bulk such as wheat, corn and soya beans to Europe as well as concentrates to the Far East which are driving the outbound trades,” said Stampehl. He added that “BBC Chartering has been seeing a lot more requests for quotes to areas not traditionally served from the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence River and recently secured project cargo to West Africa and concentrates to the Black Sea.”
Sten Konst, head of Spliethoff’s Atlantic and Great Lakes Department, said volumes to the Canadian market were especially strong in 2025, further increasing its importance in the carrier’s overall trade mix.
He expected this positive trend to continue in 2026. “On the US side, like our competitors, we are experiencing slower and more cautious decision making from clients due to tariff concerns. That said, we have maintained our biweekly service from Europe to both Canada and the US, supported by previously contracted cargo as well as a healthy commodity mix. Declines in some flows have been offset by stronger demand in others, whether steel, containers, yachts, machinery, project cargo, bagged goods, or bulk.”
Lynn Lafond, Fednav’s Liner Manager, Chartering points out that the FALLine service from Northern Europe is building on its longstanding expertise in steel transportation. In 2025, she shared, Fednav moved a wide variety of specialized cargo through St. Lawrence River ports and the Great Lakes, including transformers, yachts, large brewery tanks, wind components, tractors, and excavators.
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