Purolator Inc.’s new super-hub in Toronto is set to open in 2021 and the expectation is that it will triple the capacity of the courier provider’s network. The development of the hub forms part of a wider $1-billion investment the company intends to inject into Canada across the next five years. Included in the plans is the intention to upgrade the vehicle fleet, taking advantage of more advanced technology. The central hub will help to coordinate Purolator’s 172 operations facilities and 111 shipping centres.
Also included in the scheme are plans to focus on the customer. This includes improving the online experience, by making the main website easier to navigate. There will also be innovations in automation and the hub will be designed to meet environmental standards and to be close to zero carbon, meeting the Toronto Green Standards program (which details Toronto’s sustainable design requirements).
Quoted by Bloomberg, Purolator CEO John Ferguson says that the announcement “is one of the most ambitious in our company’s history and will future-proof our business. Purolator has experienced record growth over the past three years. We picked up and delivered over one quarter of a billion packages in 2018 and we expect our growth trajectory to continue.”
The Purolator hub is just one of several innovations making use of Toronto’s growing technology infrastructure. E-commerce company Shopify plans to increase its operations and to employ more staff over the next three years in the city.
Toronto’s cultural and economic diversity has fuelled the city’s rapid growth in a number of high-tech areas, particularly for startups and developments in areas like artificial intelligence (as Karen Graham reports on in the Digital Journal article “Toronto is now a global technology powerhouse for AI startups“). This reflects the Canadian government’s plans to build and keep successful startup ecosystems, especially in the Toronto area.
