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Senior officials with the federal department of transport will meet with Nutrien on Friday in Ottawa to try to persuade the Saskatchewan-based fertilizer giant to change course and build an up to $1-billion export terminal in Canada instead of the United States.

Minister of Transport Steven MacKinnon and other senior level officials want to understand why Nutrien selected the Port of Longview in Washington for this investment, according to two sources. The Globe is not naming the sources because they are not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

Mr. MacKinnon is hoping Nutrien will reconsider, given Ottawa’s $5-billion Trade Diversification Corridors Fund, according to one of the sources. This fund will support a range of projects across Canada, from port expansions to rail improvements. The fund was promised in the Liberals’ spring election platform and passed in the October budget. More details were announced in late November.

But winning back the project will be difficult. The Port of Longview has spent the last 10 years redeveloping the site for a tenant such as Nutrien, and the advantages offered by this location are hard to beat in Canada.

On Nov. 19, Nutrien announced plans to build an export terminal with capacity for five to six million tonnes of potash a year in Longview.

Should the investment be finalized, by 2031, as much Canadian potash mined by Nutrien will be shipped to overseas markets via the U.S. as via Canadian ports. The terminal would ship potash to fast-growing markets in the Indo-Pacific, including China, India and Japan.

The company had been scouting sites across the Pacific Northwest for over a year. Locations up for consideration included Canadian deep-sea ports with rail access. Prince Rupert and the Port of Vancouver fit the criteria.

Nutrien assessed options based on a matrix of 30 criteria, chief commercial officer Chris Reynolds told The Globe and Mail in mid-November. These criteria included rail rates, freight costs and construction costs.

The 97-year-old Berth 4 at the Longview port consistently “came out on top,” he said.

Previously the site of a grain terminal, Longview invested US$15-million in redeveloping the berth starting in 2014. This project included removing more than 1,000 creosote-treated pilings, a full site hazard assessment and the demolition of silos. The private berth is serviced by two major railroads, and freight capacity will double because of a US$90-million industrial rail corridor development that will add a six-track rail bed next to the existing corridor.

“We’re the community’s economic engine and we take that very seriously,” said Ashley Helenberg, marketing communications manager for the port. “… All of the ports’ investment has been driven to attract a tenant like Nutrien.”

In comparison, the Port of Vancouver is constrained on space and congested. Prince Rupert is serviced by only one railway. Canadian ports and railroads have also faced labour struggles over the past few years.

Canadian supply chains are behind the curve, said John Corey, president of the Freight Management Association of Canada. And that might cost Canada this investment. But Ottawa’s focus is now on winning the next bid, he said. And that means being “pro-active.”

“This is a wake-up call,” Mr. Corey said, adding that Ottawa needs to “change the perception that Canada’s supply chain is not reliable.”