UPS Canada has officially opened a $70 million expansion of its Toronto distribution hub to boostCanadian trade by simplifying the import and export of goods.
The newly expanded 141,130 sqm facility more than doubles UPS’s package processing capacityand will help facilitate international commerce between Canadian businesses and their overseascounterparts. The hub, which UPS describes as the ‘door to the world’ is located on Toronto’snorthern border within the rapidly growing city of Vaughan, where UPS is the second largestemployer. It will process freight shipments in addition to small package volumes.
Chairman and CEO of UPS Scott Davis, who presided over the official opening of the expandedhub along with UPS Canada president Mike Tierney, noted it might seem strange that UPS would invest$70 million “in the middle of the worst recession in recent history.”
“But there’s a simple answer,” he continued. “UPS sees the same kind of possibilities inCanada that we saw more than 30 years ago when it began operations here. What we see is amazingpotential – a strong and resilient Canadian economy, the unstoppable force of global commerce and anation of companies ready to emerge stronger from the recession into a new era of global growth.”
The building includes numerous eco-features, including skylights for more natural light, anenergy management system for climate control that automatically detects the amount of sunlight inthe building and adjusts the internal temperature accordingly, the expansion of the propanefuelling area to facilitate a broader use of propane fuel, and a comprehensive storm watermanagement system.
“You can’t look at this building as a stand-alone facility,” Davis added. “It’s really partof a global web of air and ground facilities, freight and airline fleets, warehouses and retailstores connecting each business to more than 200 countries and territories around the world.”
“This newly expanded facility will serve as a local economic driver, creating several hundredjobs for local and regional residents,” Tierney explained. “In addition, it will contribute to thetax base and offer the city a state-of-the-art building in line with environmental standards.”
UPS broke ground on the expansion of the Toronto hub in 2007, recognising a growing demandamong businesses in Toronto and Canada as a whole to ship goods within the country and todestinations around the world.
