Market Trends of Canada 3PL Industry
Effects of USMCA on Automobile Industry
The US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) involves several updates in the automobile industry. According to industry experts, the provisions of this agreement go further than any other free trade agreement allowing the use of only one data set to ship goods across all the three countries. The agreement focuses on increasing efficiency in cross-border freight, removing all restrictions from the Mexican custom brokers and creating a streamlined process.
For instance, for the automobile industry, the agreement includes the side letters from the US to Canada and Mexico agreeing to exemptions from potential future tariffs imposed by the US on some motor vehicles and auto parts which is a great relief to the auto industry.
USMCA also mandates the automobile industry to use 70% of the steel and aluminium used in vehicle manufacturing to be sourced from North American suppliers. Aside from wages, the weight, size, fragility, and hazards that come with transportation of certain core parts make it optimal from a logistics and financial perspective to establish production near a final vehicle assembly plant.
Warehousing and Distribution Trends
The massive Canadian transportation industry is leading to a notable demand for warehouses in the country. With e-commerce and last-mile logistics booming, the service providers want to be close to their customers to ensure efficient deliveries. Ontario is Canada’s automobile and manufacturing hub is experiencing the maximum developments in the warehousing segment to ease the logistics activities. Among recent developments, in October 2019, Porsche Canada in partnership with DB Schenker, opened its national parts distribution centre in Ontario, giving overnight delivery through the country, reducing the delivery time significantly. In December 2019, Walmart Canada and SCI Logistics announced SCI's largest dedicated and purpose-built distribution centre at Ontario adding 450,000 sq. feet of warehousing space to facilitate Walmart Canada's online orders.
Oxford Properties Group - leading global commercial real estate investor, developer and manager, announced plans to develop Canada's first multi-level industrial property comprising 707,000 sq. feet over two levels built at Oxford's Riverbend Business Park located in Burnaby.
