For three-quarters of a century, Snider Dock Services has been a key presence on the Port Colborne leg of the Canal. But the family's legacy goes back even further than the original business they opened in 1948.
"My great-grandfather owned a dairy farm on Killaly Street in Port Colborne, and while the third canal was being constructed, he worked there during the excavation with a team of horses and a wagon. He received $1.00 a day for his team of horses, a wagon and himself,” says Ken Snider, President of Snider Dock Services Limited.
From there, Ken’s father – Lawson Snider, due to turn 100 in October 2023 – started the family’s first Canal business.
"My dad, and later on my siblings and I, have been employing people in the city of Port Colborne for 75 years."
Just a few years after the end of the Second World War, Lawson Snider purchased a small company in the fuel oil and coal delivery business, trucking the products mainly to the residential market, as well as greenhouses. He would expand his business into trucking, a venture that would see the Snider family steadily grow into a Port Colborne institution.
Lawson's business worked for two coal companies on both sides of the canal. On the east side, at Wharf 16, the Sniders worked for the Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal Company, while at Wharf 18 on the canal's west side, they worked for Valley Camp Coal Company. From those wharves, Snider would deliver coal to industries throughout the Niagara Peninsula. He would go on to manage the dock for R&P and took on the task of loading coal into the ships' bunkers - a vital task in the days of coal-burning vessels.
When industries transitioned to using natural gas as a fuel source, R&P opted to close their operations in Port Colborne and offered to sell the business to Lawson. He picked up Valley Camp's business at Wharf 18 as well, and in 1985, Snider Dock Services and L.E. Snider Transport were incorporated.
Today, Snider is one of the longest-operating businesses on the Canal, and still in the family. But for all that history, Ken Snider says the company has made some of its biggest moves in recent years.
"I believe one of the biggest milestones was when we became involved with the QSL Group. That allowed us to get into many other markets and commodities which we were not able to do ourselves," he said.
The Sniders formed a strategic alliance with QSL, a major North American terminal, stevedoring and logistics company, before forging a 50/50 partnership in 2018. The new company, Port Colborne Marine Terminal Inc., integrates the Snider family business into an immense network of ports and facilities throughout Canada and the United States.
Today, Wharves 16, 17 and 18 remain part of the Snider / QSL family business. With Wharf 18 set for repair, Wharves 16 and 17 currently handle cruise ships along with materials like salt, synthetic gypsum, aggregate, steel coils and steel slabs to name a few.
The repairs to Wharf 18 are in part powered by $45 million in government funding. These upgrades will allow incoming cruise ships to dock on the west side of the canal, in canal lands where the Sniders used to load coal for Valley Camp. The new wharf will be aimed at tourists, enabling them to disembark and interface more easily with the businesses on West Street.
“The passengers and crew will have direct access to the downtown instead of walking from the east side,” Snider said.
"The goal is to have as many visit the city as possible and take advantage of the shops and restaurants available to them."
The modern joint venture company employs about 25 full-time employees across dock, transport and security roles, not accounting for part-timers. But the economic spinoff of the business goes much further.
"We have roughly 300 vessel interfaces per year, including cargo vessels, cruise ships and vessels in for repair, maintenance or to take on stores. Each one of those interfaces requires people and/or equipment or supplies," Snider said.
That translates into indirect jobs within the broader community.
The importance of the Welland Canal is not lost on Snider, not only for the family business, but for Port Colborne.
“Without the Canal, we, or many other companies, would not exist.”
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