UPS to expand network in Canada’s Atlantic provinces

UPS is investing in expanding its network within Canada, with six new locations to be established in the country’s four Atlantic provinces. The company had already announced last year it was planning to expand into Moncton, New Brunswick, and to Halifax, Nova Scotia, from April 2012.

But now UPS says it is also planning to expand in the second half of this year to extend its pickup and delivery services in Saint John and Fredericton, New Brunswick, as well as Sydney and New Glasgow, Nova Scotia.

In what it describes as a multi-million dollar investment, the firm will also be expanding in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, and in St John’s, in the Newfoundland and Labrador province.

UPS is expecting to create about 250 new jobs in the Atlantic Canada region.

UPS said locally-bred Shelley Gares is taking responsibility of the Atlantic operations. Born in Halifax, Gares began her career at UPS in 1988 in Manitoba, before moving back east to head up customs and brokerage services in Fredericton in 2005.

Gares said she “jumped” at the offer to head up operations in the Atlantic Canada region. “I’m helping to introduce UPS to the unyielding community spirit and the hard-working citizens of the East Coast,” she said. “I can’t wait to see Brown package cars driving in each of the Atlantic provinces.”

UPS said it has now invested more than $215m in its Canadian network since 2005. The company has been operating in the country since 1975, and now has a delivery system boasting 2,500 vehicles, 85 daily airline flight segments and nearly 10,000 employees.

Mike Tierney, the UPS Canada President, said building the presence in the Atlantic provinces of Canada was the “next logical step” for his company.

He said: “This is a very exciting year for us. Adding six more cities to our expansion signifies the potential for growth we see in the Atlantic provinces.”