Canada exports plenty of maple syrup and poutine, eh?
And our neighbors to the north are also the world’s biggest producers of potash, a type of fertilizer that’s mined in the heart of the continent and used by farmers across the globe.
These salmon-colored potash pebbles are mainly transported west by train to ports in British Columbia and Portland, Oregon.
But as climate change causes more wildfires in western North America, it can screw up train routes.
"More potash is being shipped through Thunder Bay and into the St. Lawrence Seaway than we've seen in the past," said Karen Proud, CEO of Fertilizer Canada.
In fact, potash traffic on the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway is nearly double what it was last year.
It gets loaded onto boats at Thunder Bay in Lake Superior then floats out to the Atlantic.
With climate change contributing to more wildfires out west, supply chains may increasingly rely on the Great Lakes in the years to come.
So the next freighter you see on the horizon might have a bounty of potash on board.
