The continuous growth of international trade and development of containerization bring about the emergence and development of inland ports- inland sites performing seaport functions that do not require waterways (also called dry ports). However, so far inland/dry port research has paid very limited attention to Canadian inland ports. CentrePort Canada, located in Winnipeg where manufacturing is the largest industry, is the first Canadian inland port with three transportation modes and foreign trade zone status and is endeavoring to attract more businesses especially in manufacturing. This thesis thus aims to investigate whether CentrePort Canada, especially the North part, is an attractive site for manufacturers to locate their businesses. Attractiveness is measured by matching CentrePort Canada features with the location factors considered by specific manufacturers. Eight case studies involving in-depth interviews are conducted to explore manufacturers’ perspectives on site selection factors and CentrePort Canada (North). Three groups of manufacturers are included: established companies located in CentrePort Canada South, new companies located in CentrePort Canada North, and established firms located elsewhere in Winnipeg. This thesis concludes that CentrePort Canada North is so far attractive to Winnipeg-based companies having plans to relocate within the city and outside manufacturers distributing to new markets. Winnipeg-based companies more appreciate CentrePort Canada-related features including available land, low land cost, and CentrePort Canada Way, while outside manufacturers are more interested in regional features such as low business costs, taxes and incentives, market access, and ease of transportation. For attracting new manufacturing operations, governments need to provide more manufacturing-related incentives and the inland port should improve its services and promote more actively to the outside manufacturing industry. This study not only adds to Canadian inland port research, but also supports the adaptation of a relational approach integrating behavioral and structural location theories in addressing a site attractiveness evaluation. / May 2017

This study investigates awareness and importance of, and knowledge about, features of CentrePort Canada, in the eyes of the Winnipeg supply chain community. CentrePort is the inland port located in Winnipeg, Manitoba. A questionnaire focused on features of CentrePort was sent via e-mail to supply chain professionals in the Winnipeg area. This was done through the cooperation of two supply chain organizations and their chapters in Winnipeg. Respondents are aware of certain more heavily advertised aspects of CentrePort. Most of the features are rated relatively important by the respondents. However, the lean alignment of an organization seems to have little impact on the importance of CentrePort’s features, and the respondents are ultimately not confident in their knowledge about CentrePort. While respondents are aware of the physical space that CentrePort occupies, they are very much unaware and uninformed of CentrePort’s nuances. / October 2015