The investment plan includes a CA$330 million national hub in Toronto set to open in 2021.
Canada-based delivery and logistics company Purolator Inc. announced Tuesday it plans to invest CA$1 billion ($763.27 million) through a five-year strategy to help it handle increasing parcel volumes and e-commerce growth.
The centerpiece of the investment plan is a new CA$330 million, 430,000-square-foot national hub on 60 acres in Toronto set to open in 2021. The facility will triple capacity and “step-change Purolator’s network with world-class automation,” the company said.
More than 1,000 new vehicles will be introduced in 2019 and 2020, including the company’s first wave of fully electric vehicles to be rolled out next year to complement its hybrid electric fleet. As of May, Purolator’s fleet included 323 hybrid-electric vehicles, 3,058 courier vehicles, 177 medium trucks, 1,307 highway trailers and 462 tractors.
Purolator, which is mostly owned by Canada Post Corp., will open a CA$8.5 million, 110,000-square-foot terminal in the Toronto area in September “in time for peak season,” the company said. The terminal will add up to 135 delivery routes and sustain 200 jobs.
The investment plan is designed to “future-proof” Purolator’s business, said President and CEO John Ferguson in a statement.
“Purolator has experienced record growth over the past three years,” he said. “We picked up and delivered over one-quarter of a billion packages in 2018 and we expect our growth trajectory to continue.”