CTV News Edmonton has reported:

A groundbreaking ceremony was held Thursday for a 50,000-square-foot cargo facility at Edmonton International Airport (YEG). The airport and Terracap Management Inc. are developing the project as a public-private partnership, with completion expected by next Labour Day.

The facility will front onto Apron VIII, enabling cargo to move between freight aircraft and the warehouse. The airport says it will increase capacity for time-sensitive shipments, including e-commerce, perishables, pharmaceuticals and aviation parts. The Government of Canada committed $118 million to the project through the National Trade Corridors Fund.

Airport president Myron Keehn told reporters Thursday that cargo logistics can have an exponential impact on the economy compared with passenger flights. “Cargo logistics have an exponential impact on the economy when you compare it to passenger flights,” he said.

Keehn said access to markets could allow producers to make goods locally instead of shipping raw products. “Imagine I’m a food producer. Today I’m shipping raw product, but now if I get access to market, I can make the product here instead of shipping raw product. “Create jobs in a facility for making food or medicines or any kind of good that’s made … and have access to global supply chains is critically important.”