WEEKLY NEWS


WHO WILL WIN CANADA’S COLD-CHAIN RACE?


06


BY Anastasiya SIMSEK


AS 2026 begins, Canada’s two largest cargo gateways are locked in a quiet but significant competition. Toronto Pearson and Montréal– Trudeau are both expanding cold-chain infrastructure, both courting pharmaceutical


shippers, and both positioning themselves as


indispensable nodes in North American life-sciences logistics. Yet their strategies, and their bets on what the next wave of demand looks like, are notably different. With biologics, vaccines and temperature-sensitive therapeutics


moving in higher volumes and tighter time windows, the question for shippers and forwarders is no longer whether Canada will play a larger role, but which gateway will define it.


A surge shaped by biologics, not just volume The growth story behind Canada’s cold-chain push is less about sheer tonnage and more about complexity. Advanced biologics, cell and gene therapies, and specialised injectables are increasing the value, and fragility, of shipments moving through North American air networks. As US capacity tightens periodically and regulatory scrutiny


intensifies, Canadian gateways are investing in infrastructure and certifications that support


temperature-sensitive cargo. Toronto


has expanded its cold-chain handling footprint at Pearson with an enlarged, CEIV-qualified pharma facility, while Montreal benefits from CEIV-certified cargo handlers, such as Swissport at Montréal– Trudeau, that underpin reliable, temperature-controlled handling for pharmaceutical shipments.


Toronto: Scale, automation and network Toronto enters 2026 leaning into its natural advantage: scale. Toronto Pearson remains Canada’s largest air-cargo gateway, handling over


ACW 19 JANUARY 2026


45 percent of the country’s air cargo activity and serving more international destinations than any other Canadian airport, according to the airport’s cargo services overview. Toronto Pearson Toronto’s cargo ecosystem also supports temperature-sensitive


freight through specialist airline and ground-handling offerings. Air Canada Cargo, which operates at Pearson, promotes its full-service temperature-sensitive


and pharmaceutical shipping solutions,


reflecting growing capability at the gateway to handle complex logistics flows. Pharmaceutical Technology For large pharmaceutical manufacturers and global forwarders, that reliability, even at the cost of marginal speed, remains compelling.


Canada as a re-export corridor What ties both strategies together is Canada’s growing role as a secondary gateway for US-bound pharma. Early 2026 routing patterns suggest forwarders are increasingly directing sensitive shipments through Canadian airports to mitigate congestion risk, diversify entry points and maintain compliance continuity. This trend benefits both Toronto and Montreal, but in different


ways. Toronto captures flows that require scale, network optionality and flexible rerouting. Montreal attracts shipments where speed and handling precision outweigh network breadth. The competition, then, isn’t strictly zero-sum. Yet as investment


accelerates, each airport is implicitly betting on which definition of “cold-chain excellence” will dominate.


Montreal: Speed, proximity and adjacency Montreal’s approach is more surgical. Rather


than competing


head-on with Toronto’s volume, the city is doubling down on proximity


to pharmaceutical manufacturing and time-critical


handling. Montréal–Trudeau handled around 150,000 tonnes of air cargo


www.aircargoweek.com


in the early-2020s, significantly less than Toronto Pearson, according to Canadian government transport data. This dif ference in scale, however, does not determine cold-


chain competitiveness on its own. For high-value biologics, cell and gene therapies and other temperature-sensitive products, proximity to manufacturing, handling precision and elapsed time often matter more than raw throughput. Quebec’s life-sciences ecosystem gives Montreal a structural


advantage in this context. The province represents one of Canada’s most concentrated pharmaceutical and biotechnology clusters, supported


infrastructure, about


by manufacturing, according


to and more


research Invest


about and Québec’s


export-oriented life-sciences


industry overview. Logistics managers describe Montreal’s advantage as less throughput


elapsed minutes. Faster


handof fs, shorter truck legs and closer integration with regional pharma producers form the backbone of the gateway’s 2026 cold- chain strategy.


Which gateway wins in 2026? The answer depends on who’s asking. For global pharma manufacturers with


diversified portfolios and high-volume


distribution needs, Toronto’s scale remains dif ficult to match. For innovators shipping smaller batches of ultra-sensitive biologics, Montreal’s proximity and speed are increasingly attractive. What’s clear is that Canada is moving decisively into the cold-


chain spotlight. As 2026 commences, Toronto and Montreal aren’t just competing with each other, they’re collectively reshaping how pharma cargo moves across North America. For shippers and forwarders, the smartest strategy may be


recognising that in this race, the real advantage lies in having both options on the agenda.


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