Posted
April 17, 2018

G3 Canada Ltd Expands to Wetaskiwin

Last month, G3 Canada Limited (G3) announced its plans to build a new grain handling facility just south of Wetaskiwin, in the JEDI region. This will be the company’s first primary elevator in Alberta. Primary elevators (called “country elevators” before 1971) receive grain directly from producers for storage, forwarding, or both.

According to Canadian Grain Commission, there are 79 primary elevators in Alberta, with a total capacity of 1,913,710 tonnes, as of 2018-02-01. The Wetaskiwin facility will be built with 42,000 tonnes storage capacity.

G3 is also constructing a new primary elevator near Maidstone, Saskatchewan.

“We’re excited to be able to show farmers in the Wetaskiwin and Maidstone areas what G3 has to offer their business,” said G3 CEO Karl Gerrand in a press release. “Farmers near both new facilities will benefit from G3’s service model, providing fast truck turnaround and strong delivery opportunities.”

G3 claims farmers will save valuable time at the state-of-the-art facility where they can unload trucks in less than five minutes. The loop track system is considered highly efficient to load trains quickly and keep the grain moving.

On April 16, G3 held a public open house to show area farmers what G3 can offer that will benefit their farming operations if G3 locates in the JEDI region. They were able to provide more details and answer questions about the project to more than 50 guests.

“We are proud to have G3 choose the JEDI region for their facility,” said Joan Miller, Director of Economic Development, JEDI. “It will be a great opportunity for those in the agriculture sector to move grains and have quicker access to cross-country transport and export. Agriculture is a key industry in the JEDI region and this facility answers a need for a closer grain facility to reduce the transport time and costs to our local farmers.”

The Wetaskiwin elevator will be located on CP Rail, making it well placed to supply G3 Terminal Vancouver when the next-generation grain export terminal becomes operational in 2020. The elevator will “further advance our G3 vision to build a world-class grain handling network, and continue to grow our presence in western Canada,” said Gerrand.

Construction of the new elevator in Wetaskiwin is expected to commence as soon as possible, subject to receiving regulatory approval, and is slated for completion prior to the 2019 harvest. The Pipestone Flyer will soon have a notice of an upcoming County of Wetaskiwin public hearing on the proposed development.

“We look forward to facilitating G3 Canada’s proposed move into the JEDI region as much as we can,” said Miller. “Our aim is to make local investment, development and expansion into the JEDI region as easy as possible. As such, we will make our resources readily available to G3 and their partners.”

G3 is a Canadian grain enterprise designed to provide a unique competitive alternative to farmers. The company’s assets include primary grain elevators and port terminals stretching from Saskatchewan to Québec, a Great Lake grain transport vessel, and the largest private fleet of grain hopper cars in Canada to form the elements of a smarter path from farmers’ fields to global markets.