By: Stephen Laskowski, President, OTA
The following was published in the Hamilton Spectator, April 25, 2026:
Hamiltonians often look at the Port of Hamilton and see ships, but if you look closer, you’ll see the start of a journey that spans the continent. In the world of modern trade, ships and trucks are inseparable partners. Whether it’s food destined for grocery shelves in Western Canada or Hamilton steel for automotive plants in the U.S. Midwest, that journey begins right here on local roads.
This is the reality of trade: eventually, it moves by truck. That means to keep the country’s engine running, we need road systems that match our economic ambition.
The Port of Hamilton is critical to the international supply chain, which means trucks need to be able to move in and out of the area efficiently. However, due to the City of Hamilton realigning municipal truck routes, trucks cannot use the 403 to access the port from the west. Instead, carriers are forced to travel the long way over the Burlington Skyway and can only access the ports from the east.
Why are we making trucks take a longer, less efficient path? It doesn’t just hurt the bottom line; it adds travel time and increases greenhouse gas emissions in our own backyard. Instead, we must prioritize the links between the Port, the QEW, and Hwy 403 to streamline the path to global markets.
This isn’t just a local logistics issue. When we improve the local road connectivity, we are securing the “first mile” of a trade route that ends at the Gordie Howe International Bridge or the Highway 11/17 corridor, the vital artery to Western Canada. A bottleneck at the Port of Hamilton is an invisible tax added to a consumer in Thunder Bay or a factory in Detroit.
We are currently seeing a rare alignment of vision at the highest levels of government. Premier Ford and Prime Minister Carney recently signed a landmark $8.8-billion infrastructure partnership. It is critical that this “Build Canada” spirit reaches the pavement here in Hamilton. We need both the province and the federal government to prioritize trade-enabling infrastructure that supports our professional drivers and protects our supply chains from being choked by aging road designs.
Hamilton is the anchor of the Great Lakes. By investing in the road systems that connect our port to our highways, we aren’t just moving freight; we are protecting thousands of local jobs and ensuring Hamilton remains the essential starting point for the products that build our country.
Let’s stop talking about where trucks can’t go and start building the roads that connect Lake Ontario to the rest of the world.