Canada has long been a trading nation and that heritage continues today despite the tremendous challenges in our global economy. Canada’s Our dependence on relationships with suppliers and markets in the United States, Europe and Southeast Asia makes the supply chain in Canada particularly vulnerable to cross border security issues, challenges with low cost-country sourcing, and increased transportation costs resulting from sky rocketing fuel costs and imbalances in load requirements.

These challenges are particularly unique given a number of factors affecting Canadaour Country.

• Canada is second only to China in land mass, yet has a population base of less than 10 percent % of that of the United States.
  
  
• Canada is an urbanized Country with a higher proportion of its citizens living in urban centres (cities and towns), than citizens of the United States; over eighty percent of Canadian citizens live within 200 miles of the United States border.
  
  
• Population in urban centres is limited to a few major cities, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax, unlike the United States where many more major metropolitan areas exist with large population bases exist.
  
  
• Canada has a Northern Climate, unlike that of most of the Continental United States, which compounds transportation issues associated with the movement of goods and services.
  
  
• Canada is in a demographic crisis, with a subsequent labour shortage enveloping all segments of the economy.
  
  

The Government of Canada is working with key sectors of the Canadian Economy to deal with these issues. The Canadian Supply Chain Sector Council (CSCSC) has been established by industry stakeholders (employers, professional associations, education, and government at all levels) to develop solutions to the human resources and labour market issues faced in the supply chain sector. This sectoral model is beginning to have an impact on the competiveness of firms in supply chain management and on the marriage between policymakers and free-market forces at work in our economy. This session will showcase some of the unique activities of the CSCSCS and provide a model for implementation in other jurisdictions.