Port of Goderich, a gateway to Southwestern Ontario

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As the only deepwater port on the east shore of Lake Huron, the Port of Goderich has been called the gateway to Southwestern Ontario.

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The port itself is owned by the Town of Goderich and overseen by the Goderich Port Management Corporation (GPMC).

Rowland Howe, outgoing president of GPMC, recently spoke about the port’s past, present and future at the Eastern Canada Farm Writers’ annual general meeting in Blyth.

Frank Hurkmans, GPMC’s incoming president, joined Howe for the presentation.

According to Howe, the Town of Goderich purchased the greater port lands (including beaches and water treatment intake) in 1999.

The price tag at the time was $500,000 and the money came from user funding as part of what Howe called a great public/private partnership.

It was the users who set up the Goderich Port Management Corporation to manage the port’s commercial activities. Its mandate focuses on safety, the environment and port security.

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An additional $34 million was then invested into the port “to make it work” and so began early operations.

As of today, 250 ships dock within the Port of Goderich annually making it one of the busiest Canadian ports on the great lakes. It is seaway depth, which Howe said is key.

The vessels are loading and delivering commodities such as salt, grain and calcium chloride.

Salt makes up the majority due to Goderich’s underground salt mine that has come to be known as the largest in the world.

Hurkmans said 250,000 tonnes of material can be moved over the port’s four-acre area and many vessels can discharge 300,000 tonnes per hour.

An interesting point tied to agriculture is that the port is the third busiest for corn in the great lakes.

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“So, there is a lot of material coming in and material going out,” Hurkmans said.

When ships leave the port they are going to places like Europe, China, United Kingdom, Venice and more.

Seasonally speaking, Howe said the port is open a lot more than most people know.

“There aren’t the limitations that people might think there is,” he said.

In 2024, for instance, the last vessel left to go abroad was in March after which time is dedicated to maintenance.

Currently, the movement of bulk cargo through Goderich Harbour is limited by a deficiency in available wharf space even though an expansion was completed in 2020.

Because of this, Howe said there are plans to create an additional 5.6 hectares of wharf space and build an additional dock at Goderich Harbour.

This will increase the water transportation system’s capacity on a local, provincial, national and international level allowing it to receive and ship a variety of commodities.

“There are certainly investments being put into Canadian ports,” Hurkmans said.

Howe agreed.

“There is money available from the federal government and we want to tap into that,” Howe said.

Future potential projects could include shipping items like equipment for Bruce Power, scrap, gypsum or maybe potash.

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