Canada’s largest port operator shortchanging Canadians?

CICTAR Press release in solidarity with the ILWU Ship and Dock Foremen - Local 514 and ILWU Canada port workers.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, November 1st, 2024 - Workers at Dubai-owned west coast ports are wondering whether their employer pays any corporate income tax in Canada, following an investigation revealing the company paid no tax in Australia for almost a decade, despite significant profits.

Dubai Ports World (DP World), controlled by the royal family of the oil-rich emirate, is one of the world’s largest port operators and the dominant port operator on Canada’s west coast.

Globally, in 2023 DP World made US$18.25 billion (C$25.27 B) in revenue and has paid its owners US$8.63 billion (C$11.95 B) in cash dividends over the last two years.

DP World is already embroiled in major disputes with its Canadian workforce, and those workers are concerned that DP World is not paying its fair share of income tax.

Research published last year by CICTAR (Centre for International Corporate Tax Accountability & Research) revealed that DP World’s Australian port operations - despite AU$4.5 billion in revenue (C$4.14 B) and annual average profit (EBITDA) margins of 25 percent - hadn’t paid a cent of corporate income tax over the previous eight years. This trend has continued for a tenth year, according to new public tax data.

The report conservatively estimates that “DP World may have short changed Australia – and funding for health, education and other public services – by more than AU$330 million over the 8-year period.”

Jason Ward, the report’s author, said the same analysis of DP World’s tax payments is not possible in Canada “because corporate income tax payments are not public and privately owned companies are not required to publish financial statements. However, the ownership structure of DP World’s west coast Canadian ports is strikingly similar.”

“If DP World has been able to dodge taxes in Australia, where there is relatively strong enforcement from the tax authority and much greater transparency, the question we need to ask now is whether the company is doing the same in Canada and elsewhere around the world”, said CICTAR’s Jason Ward.

DP World’s West Coast Canadian ports are 45% owned by the Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec (CDPQ), Quebec’s provincial pension fund.

Besides having an interest in the Australian ports, CDPQ also owns nearly a quarter of the Jebel Ali port and Free Zone in Dubai.

“If DP World is paying income tax in Canada, like its employees do, then it should have no problem disclosing its tax payments”, says Ward. “CDPQ also has questions to answer about the transparency of its global partnership with DP World and its tax practices on global investments.”

CONTACT:     Jason Ward     +61 488 190 457        [email protected]