Advocacy is high on the agenda of the Association and it is achieved via such things as better products including magazines, newsletters, videos, press releases, media interviews and seminars. It also involves a high degree of outreach to important industry stakeholders. In addition, government relations focuses directly on the legislative and regulatory environment and attempts to ensure no stone is left unturned when it comes to how government actions impact the port community in Canada. 

Forums/Events

In addition to the various Association events, the ACPA is engaged with a number of organizations to ensure that the port community is adequately represented and to raise the overall profile of the Association.  This ensures that the issues of importance to members are well known. Ongoing meetings continue with others in the freight transportation sector such as the following:

• Canada’s Marine Industry Alliance (CMIA)
• National Marine Industrial Council (NMIC)
• Green Marine
• Canadian Chamber of Commerce
• American Association of Port Authorities
• Railway Association of Canada
• Canadian Industrial Transportation Association
• Canadian Trucking Alliance
• Relevant Government Departments and Agencies

Government Relations

With respect to targeted government relations there are a number of important initiatives undertaken each year.  For some of that work the Board and relevant Association Committees become involved. Much of the work undertaken by the Association’s committees relate to compliance with existing legislation and regulations, development of new regulations and ongoing monitoring of government activity impacting the Association’s members and the port community generally.

Much of what the Association does is government related in one form or another given the mandate established for Port Authorities under the Canada Marine Act. The Canada Marine Act (CMA) defines the 17 Canada Port Authorities as Canada’s National Port System. Under the CMA Port Authorities are mandated to achieve specific national objectives including: maintaining port infrastructure for port users and Canadians; ensuring strong environmental stewardship in ports and harbours; ensuring safety and security of port operations; and helping to develop Canada’s regional and national economy. 

Since the CMA’s commercialization of Port Authorities in 1999, the country’s 17 Port Authorities have increased their business by 40 percent, now moving $162 billion of cargo annually. This business has a significant economic impact on the regions served by Canada Port Authorities.

As well, the Corporate Members have to comply with many other Acts of Parliament requiring the Association to stay abreast of policies, programs and regulations flowing from those Acts.  To stay on top of this the Association works at many different levels from desk officers up to elected officials.  That is the nature of government relations for the Association and in some cases members of the Board or individual Corporate Members are consulted in this ongoing effort.

The Association endeavours to communicate regularly with Committees and provide ‘early warning’ of issues and provide relevant research and information of interest to members. 

Education and Information

Conferences/Seminars

The Association hosts four events each year:

Annual Conference and AGM
Governance Seminar;
Port/Government Interface;
Operations & Environment Seminar.

Publications/Media

The Association continues to keep members informed via the quarterly newsletter, Manifest.  The newsletter is meant to highlight some of the activity of importance in the port community in the previous quarter with respect to port business, public policy, personnel changes, board initiatives and more. The Association provides Members with a regular Member Update that is archived on the Members Only section of the web site.  This product is meant to be timely and update members on breaking issues as they occur.