Maersk Plans Toronto Distribution Center

May 9, 2022

Adds more distribution center capacity and omni-channel fulfillment to help make Toronto
supply chains more competitive.

Supports global integrator strategy, creating new supply chain infrastructure for end-to-end
solutions.

Performance Team – A Maersk Company is planing a new Toronto distribution center designed to serve the growth of Canada’s import and export cargoes via ocean, rail, air and road.

End-to-end supply chain solutions will be created by Maersk’s multi-gateway Ocean services calling the Port of Prince Rupert, Vancouver, Seattle, Montreal, Halifax and Mobile (Alabama, U.S.) that can be integrated with rail service, air freight and Maersk Customs Services for customs clearance and cross border expertise.

Jason Walker, Executive Vice President of Operations at Performance Team - A Maersk Company said "Toronto is the fastest growing logistics intersection for goods across Canada as well as into the United States through the US border. Our Toronto site will create a strong hub to help accelerate Canadian supply chains and strengthen their ability to face future supply chain disruption challenges."

8.6 million people live within 50 miles of the Performance Team Toronto facility, representing the highest population density in Canada. Nearly 15 million people are within 250 miles, creating Canada’s largest customer and consumer demand market.

As the largest logistics center in Canada, Toronto has superb access to seven major highways that provide access to locations across Canada and U.S. border crossings. The market is directly served and focused as a hub by both the Canadian National and Canadian Pacific railways with Intermodal railyards. In addition, the Toronto Pearson International Airport processes over 45% of Canada’s air cargo, serving 175 international destinations and most Canadian E-Commerce consumers due to the strategic geographic location. The airport also serves as the center for the region’s rail and highway network, ensuring scaled supply chains to ship to the region’s retailers who are expanding in this market.

Omar Shamsie, President of Maersk Canada added, "We are keeping Canadian customers at the forefront of everything we do and this new supply chain asset will be essential to improving supply chain flows in our Toronto logistics hub. We are looking at all possible means to help trade growth by getting logistic flows moving smoothly and minimizing supply chain disruption of our customers in North America. The pandemic has changed supply chain demand models. E-commerce sales continue to soar and supply chains need to tap into this growing market. Our customers are looking for faster order fulfillment in Toronto and the surrounding markets through integrated logistics."

The Performance Team Toronto building will be a new state-of-the-art facility located on Airport Road in the Toronto metro-area – strategically-located as the ideal balance of distance to port, airport, and close proximity to the Canadian Rail Intermodal complex. The 568,000 square foot, 97 dock door facility will open in November 2022 and be operated by Performance Team - A Maersk Company.

The new Toronto facility will complement Performance Team’s existing Pacific Transload Express center in Vancouver that opened in September 2021 to make Asia/Pacific Northwest (PNW) supply chains more resilient, flexible and cost-effective. The ability to transload international containers into domestic 53-foot trailers for inland rail destination to Toronto and the U.S. Midwest enables customers to achieve overall cost savings (per cubic meter) for domestic distribution, while reducing storage costs related to port demurrage and detention of international containers. Supply chains flowing through the facility comprise fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) in the retail and lifestyle segment that need agile response capabilities to consumer demand fluctuations. FMCG represents 80-90% of the volumes and auto parts are 10-20% into the Midwest.