Burlington Street (Hamilton, Ontario) - Today

Today

The Hamilton Port Authority, formerly known as Hamilton Harbour Commission, handles over 12 million metric tonnes of cargo through over 700 vessels each year. This ranks Hamilton as the busiest of all the ports of Canada's great lakes and 28% of all movements on the St. Lawrence Seaway System. In 2006 Total ships in and out of the harbour was 739; Domestic/U.S.: 577 (78%), International: 162 (22%) from countries including Malaysia, Philippines, Russia and Brazil. Percentage of Imports: 87%, Percentage of Exports: 13%. International arrivals at the port grew from 130 ships in 2005 to 162 ships in 2006. In 2006 most of the materials arriving at the port include raw materials including iron ore and coal for steelmaking at Stelco and Dofasco, as well as imported steel from Brazil. The port also accepted 24,000 litres (5,280 Imp gallons) of bulk Jamaican rum. The oddest new arrival was windmill blades (some more than 80 feet (24 m) long) destined for wind farms in southern Ontario. This is the first year windmill parts have arrived in the port. Exports include 500,000 metric tonnes (550,000 short tons) of agricultural products including grain.

Lakeport Brewing Company is based in Hamilton and focused on producing value-priced quality beer for the Ontario take-home market. Lakeport produces nine proprietary beer brands, two of which, Lakeport Honey Lager and Lakeport Pilsener, are two of the top ten selling brands in the province of Ontario. Lakeport has more than 200 employees at its production facility. It is one of the fastest growing companies in the Hamilton region. Lakeport Brewing Company joined forces with the Hamilton Port Authority who will finance and construct a 35,000 square foot (3,250 m²) expansion to Lakeport's Hamilton harbour front facility. Lakeport Brewing Company is Canada's No.1 co-packer of beer, non-alcohol and spirit-based products. The company is also said to be North America's most modernized beverage alcohol production facility. On Monday May 8, Labatt Brewing Company made it official and announced that Lakeport, who they purchased earlier in the year, (March 29, 2007), for $200-million for rights to the income trust, which controlled the plant, will continue to operate in the City of Hamilton. It will continue to operate in Hamilton as they believe it is a "viable plant" and "the company is proud to integrate it with Labbat's." The operations employees continue to brew Lakeport in Hamilton but the marketing and sales jobs are now centralized at Labatt's head offices.

Bunge is an oilseed processing plant and Canada’s largest canola processor. It has crushing facilities in Altona and Harrowby, Manitoba; Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta; and Nipawin, Saskatchewan in addition to the processing plant in Hamilton. The Hamilton plant serves food manufacturers, the biodiesel industry and farmers in Ontario & Quebec.

As the largest steel manufacturing city in Canada and home of the two Steel giants; Stelco and Dofasco where 60% of all the steel in Canada is produced. It is the steel and metals manufacturing Capital of Canada. In the last decade, Hamilton's heavy industry reached a stable level, Stelco has returned to profitability and on August 26, 2007 United States Steel Corporation acquired Stelco for $38.50 (Canadian) in cash per share, owning more than 76 percent of Stelco's outstanding shares. Dofasco in 1999 was the most profitable steel producer in North America and in 2000 it was the most profitable in Canada. It currently has approximately 7,300 employees at its Hamilton plant and produces over four million tons of steel annually, representing about 30% of Canada's flat rolled sheet steel shipments. Dofasco was purchased by Arcelor Mittal in January 2006, and in addition to being one of North America's most profitable steel companies, Dofasco has been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index seven years in a row. Dofasco’s wide range of steel products is sold to customers in the automotive, construction, energy, manufacturing, pipe and tube, appliance, packaging and steel distribution industries.

National Steel Car, North America's leader in freight and passenger train cars and equipment is based in Hamilton. They have been building rail transportation products since 1912. National Steel Car won a contract in January 2007 for 1,200 custom-made railcars for TransLoad America, a New Jersey based waste transport firm.

Columbian Chemicals Ltd. on 755 Parkdale Avenue North, are manufacturers of carbon black - an agent used to reinforce and extend the life of products made with rubber, giving it durability and strength. This includes tires and hoses and plastics such as wire and cable coverings. Carbon black is also used in inks and coatings like copier and computer printer cartridges and paints. The Hamilton plant was built in 1961 and in 2007 employed 100 people.