OTTAWA, Ont. The federal government has announced $75,000 in funding for the Comit interrgional pour le transport des merchandises, of Montreal, to advance a study on adoption and use of supply chains in the Montreal area.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Pierre Pettigrew made the announcement on behalf of Transport Minister Jean-C. Lapierre.

“This is great news for the Comit interrgional pour le transport des marchandises,” Pettigrew said. “Studies such as this one enable the transportation industry to better respond to Montreal’s increasing needs.”

“This study will promote efficiency by helping transportation stakeholders offer services tailored to our evolving transportation system,” said Lapierre.

The $150,000 study consists of a three-phase approach and is expected to produce useable results within six months.

The first phase will present various supply chain management practices and how they affect demand for transportation. The second phase will be a data gathering exercise to determine supply chain management needs of companies in the Montreal area. The third phase will examine how the transportation industry can best respond to these needs and will identify measures to promote transportation efficiency and increase competitiveness in the transportation sector.

Funding for this project is part of the Government of Canada’s $600 million Strategic Highway Infrastructure Program, announced April 3, 2001. The SHIP program has two components: a $500 million highway construction component and a $100 million national system integration component.

From the integration component, $5 million is available for academic research studies or applied transportation initiatives that advance transportation planning and modal integration in urban areas and along transportation corridors.

Funding for this initiative was provided from the existing financial framework.