Canadian Grain Commission weighs office move

Thursday, March 15, 2012

by SUSAN MANN

The Canadian Grain Commission is considering moving its Chatham service centre to Guelph but a final decision hasn’t been made yet, says a spokesman.

Remi Gosselin, manager of corporate information services at the commission’s Winnipeg head office, says they need to continue evaluating if there’s commercial real estate available in different locations and assessing their stakeholders’ needs. “From our perspective we need to balance the needs of the Ontario grain sector to ensure we provide services in a cost-effective manner.”

Gosselin says the commission is considering moving its office from Chatham because “of costs related to moving from one location to another.”

There are 10 inspectors located in the Chatham office who have to travel to Hamilton, Goderich, and occasionally Sarnia for the loading of grain on to vessels. “Some of the factors being looked at is actual travel time from one location to another,” he explains, noting most of the vessel shipments are out of Hamilton. Other staff members in the Chatham office work in the lab testing grain samples for quality parameters.

The commission is a federal government agency that regulates Canada’s grain handling industry. It certifies the quality, safety and weight of Canadian grain that’s delivered to domestic and export markets. Under the Canada Grains Act, the commission, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, regulates the handling of 21 different grains grown in Canada that are considered to be official grains.

The commission has 11 service centres across Canada and the Chatham office is the only one in Ontario. Gosselin says inspectors in the Chatham office do inspections and are dispatched to vessel loading locations to do on site grain inspections for quality standards.

News reports from Chatham say the Chatham office has been open since 1937 but Gosselin says he doesn’t know exactly how long it has been there. “It’s been there for some time.”

Gosselin says they haven’t received any calls or concerns from people who don’t want the office to be moved.

The commission doesn’t know when a final decision will be made. “I think there are a number of factors that need to be looked at. We need to find a location first and we need to balance the needs of our stakeholders,” he says. BF