Airlines and marine shippers have asked Ottawa to beef up funding for sustainable transport, money they hope will flow toward green supply chains and upgrades to existing infrastructure.
“Airlines have sent very clear demand signals they will buy every drop of SAF produced, and yet what’s missing from the equation is any sort of federal incentive or support, unlike most other western countries, including the U.S.,” CEO Jeff Morrison said in an interview. Airlines have two main requests they believe will foster fuel-making factories and long-term output by producers: an investment tax credit at a rate of 50 per cent on manufacturing facilities and a production tax credit with a 10-year horizon — on par with an incentive south of the border.
If such efforts aren’t undertaken, U.S. ports could start to draw shippers away from Canadian terminals, warned chamber CEO Bruce Burrows, who pointed to cargo vessels’ self-unloading conveyor systems, which are “very power-hungry.” The government’s $165.4-million green shipping corridor program, which kicked off in December, looks to develop clean fuels and technologies at major ports as well as vessels that run on green hydrogen or advanced biofuels.
The airlines council, which represents four of the country’s biggest carriers including Air Canada and WestJet, hopes the government will allow airports to “reinvest” the rent they pay Ottawa into airport upgrades, on top of making them eligible to apply for infrastructure programs.