1978: With $ 10,000 in his pocket, courtesy of a personal loan from his mother, young Denis Dupuis starts his stevedoring business. His vision: a grand company, anchored in Quebec, which would be a reference in the maritime logistics world thanks to impeccable services, strategic development and lasting partnerships.
In just a few decades, QSL has forged an enviable reputation around the world, always standing out with a clear promise: to support the success of its customers.
For our longstanding commitment to enhance safety standards and reducing our environmental footprint, QSL is a finalist in the Safety in Bulk Handling (Ports / Cargo Handling) and Environmental Protection (Cargo Handling) categories at this competition organized by the International Bulk Journal to recognize excellence, innovation, and leadership in the maritime bulk industry.
QSL appears in the prestigious ranking of the Top 300 most important companies in Quebec, published by Les Affaires. Ranked 140th, QSL joins a select group of companies shaping the province’s economy through their scale, regional roots, and lasting impact.
This nomination in the prestigious competition organized by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Québec (CCIQ) highlights our long-standing commitment to responsible, sustainable, and human-centered development.
Based on rigorous practices, GMP+ FSA certification ensures the optimal management of processes to guarantee feed safety and grain quality throughout the entire process, from receiving to handling, storing, and shipping grain. It is also an indisputable proof of quality for buyers and contributes to better management of internal processes.
The two silos have an indoor storage capacity of 75,000 tons. This acquisition also allowed QSL to partner with Parrish & Heimbecker (P&H), a Canadian family-owned agribusiness whose activities extend across Canada and include grain marketing.
QSL appears in the prestigious ranking of the Top 300 most important companies in Quebec, published by Les Affaires. Ranked 140th, QSL joins a select group of companies shaping the province’s economy through their scale, regional roots, and lasting impact.
QSL Transport, a subsidiary of QSL specializing in heavy and oversized transport, has received the 2025 Hauling Job of the Year award from the Specialized Carriers & Rigging Association (SC&RA) in the “Under 160,000 lb” category.
Finalist in the Green Port category, an international recognition highlighting our leadership in sustainable logistics and concrete environmental innovation, notably at our Beauport Terminal in the Port of Quebec.
Transport Watson and Sycamore Specialized Carriers become QSL Transport. A new identity to strengthen QSL’s integrated logistics expertise in Canada and the United States.
Thanks to its remarkable growth and its ability to evolve while ensuring its long-term success, QSL is a finalist in the Successful Business Strategy (Quebec CPA Order) and Entrepreneurship (Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton) categories at the prestigious business competition organized by the Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec (FCCQ).
For the 2024 edition, QSL is supporting the arts, with commitments totaling more than $100,000 to contribute to major cultural institutions and events, including the Opéra de Québec, the Musée de la civilisation, the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, the Féerie des lumières de Saint-Joseph-de-Sorel, Young Musicians of the World, and the Saint-Honoré dans l’vent Festival.
This agreement will help transform the Port into a green energy hub and enhance supply chain opportunities with Europe.
Our Chicago terminal becomes the first certified QSL site in the USA. Our Grande-Anse and Bécancour terminals also join the ring of certified sites, bringing the total number of eight of our sites that comply with these demanding standards.
United Way’s Grand Partners are companies and institutions that have contributed $200,000 or more to the campaign. Companies receiving a Distinction Award stand out for an exceptional campaign that combines the best participation rate, the highest average donation and an increase in donations over last year.
QSL and the Peninsula Harbour Port Authority Corporation join forces and resources to re-energize infrastructure and attract business opportunities that will generate value for the town of Marathon, Biigtigong Nishnaabeg, and their residents.
The head office will remain in Quebec City, and the company will continue to be managed by the current management team. iCON and CDPQ will support QSL's growth strategy, including investment in new projects, particularly in Quebec.
QSL announces its partnership with the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation (SLSMC) and the Hamilton-Oshawa Port Authority (HOPA Ports) to operate SLSMC wharves 5 and 6.
This corridor will make it possible to green one of Eastern Canada’s busiest shipping routes, used daily between the Port of Montreal and the Port of St. John’s, and served by Oceanex and QSL.
For its 5th annual philanthropic event, QSL supports the foundation by hosting the 2nd edition of their OCTOGONE benefit cocktail, which raised over $220,000.
Anse au Foulon, Beauport, Sorel and the Head Office in Quebec City.
United Way’s Grand Partners are companies and institutions contributing $200,000 or more to the campaign. Companies receiving a Distinction Award stand out for an exceptional campaign that combines the best participation rate, the highest average donation, and an increase in donations over last year.
At 107 meters and 110 metric tons, these are the largest and heaviest wind turbine blades manufactured in North America, and therefore the largest ever loaded onto a ship.
Our teams invested two years in planning this atypical operation, foreseeing the unforeseeable to ensure its safe and successful execution.
For its 4th annual philanthropic event, QSL SECURES SUPPORT, QSL supports the Mosaïcultures Québec 2022 by sponsoring a major work entitled RIVER WITH GREAT WATERS.
QSL acquires Les Voituriers Transit Inc. and a large warehouse in Quebec City. These activities are brought together to form QSL Transit, a new entity enhancing QSL's range of logistics services.
For its 4th annual philanthropic event, QSL SECURES SUPPORT, QSL supports the Mosaïcultures Québec 2022 by sponsoring a major work entitled RIVER WITH GREAT WATERS.
With this new subsidiary managing the Port of Sheet Harbour in Nova Scotia, QSL is increasing its geographical and socio-economic footprint in Atlantic Canada.
The activities and employees of the Montreal-based company specializing in liquid bulk are being integrated into LOLA, QSL's personalized marine agency.
Our campaign to declare near misses was singled out as one of the leading strategies for preventing workplace accidents, and the company was named Grand Prize Winner at the Mercuriades Gala held by the Fédération des Chambres de Commerce du Québec.
Our annual United Way campaign 2021 won this award, which is given to companies with the best participation rate combined with the highest average donation.
This distinction recognizes QSL's commitment to promoting Francophone economic development and integrating sustainable and technological practices into its operations.
QSL is strengthening its commitment to sustainable development and integrating the ten principles of sustainability, human rights, labor standards, and anti-corruption into its strategy, culture, and operations.
The DATA project stands out at the Mercuriades competition. It wins the Lowe’s Canada Productivity Increase award and is a finalist in the Telus Technological Innovation category. This project is also a finalist at the OCTAS competition.
QSL acquires Empire Stevedoring Co. Ltd of Montréal. This alliance between two Quebec flagships of the maritime industry will allow QSL to expand its service offering by adding the deep container handling expertise developed by Empire Stevedoring and increasing its geographic footprint on the Canadian and American markets.
QSL signs a partnership agreement with the City of Sorel-Tracy for the creation of a port terminal serving the industrial-port zone of Sorel-Tracy, in the Saint-Laurent sector.
The DATA project is deployed across our network. TC3 is now available for all QSL terminals. That same year, telemetry is implemented on all QSL mobile and fixed equipment. This vast project wins the INNOVATION \ TRANSFORMATION NUMÉRIQUE 4.0 award from ADRIQ and 2 ÉLIXIR awards: Professional in Project Management and Best Project.
QSL is growing. Despite the unprecedented health crisis shaking the world and disrupting the supply chain, many acquisitions are completed in order to expand our service offering. QSL becomes the majority shareholder of Integrated Logistics, acquires LOLA, the largest shipping agency in Eastern Canada, LOU-CAM, a company specializing in terminal services, and completes the acquisition of Transport Watson and Sycamore by purchasing the shares of Groupe Robert.
QSL completes the certification of all its terminals in the United States. That same year, a project to eliminate single-use water bottles is implemented in our terminals in Quebec. Initiated by employees, this initiative, when fully deployed in 2022, will eliminate the consumption of more than 500,000 bottles per year in our network.
The DATA project is deployed across our network. TC3 is now available for all QSL terminals. That same year, telemetry is implemented on all QSL mobile and fixed equipment. This vast project wins the INNOVATION \ TRANSFORMATION NUMÉRIQUE 4.0 award from ADRIQ and 2 ÉLIXIR awards: Professional in Project Management and Best Project.
QSL completes the Green Marine certification of all terminals in Canada.
QSL is growing. Despite the unprecedented health crisis shaking the world and disrupting the supply chain, many acquisitions are completed in order to expand our service offering. QSL becomes the majority shareholder of Integrated Logistics, acquires LOLA, the largest shipping agency in Eastern Canada, LOU-CAM, a company specializing in terminal services, and completes the acquisition of Transport Watson and Sycamore by purchasing the shares of Groupe Robert.
Transport Watson wins the Hauling Job of the Year award for the Tad Roll Project. This award is presented by SC&RA to recognize the exceptional skills and superior ability of a road transport company to meet the most daunting professional challenges in oversized transport.
Commissioning of the “Rotainer”, an advanced technology developed in partnership with Container Rotation Systems (CRS), a company based in Sydney, Australia. This equipment now makes it possible to offer very low emission risk handling to our client Alcoa, in Baie-Comeau.
QSL completes the Green Marine certification of all terminals in Canada.
QSL continues to expand with a new point of service and a highly strategic presence in Texas, a gateway to international cargo and trade in the heart of the Gulf of Mexico. QSL Texas Terminals, a subsidiary of QSL America, provides access to the central part of the United States via the Mississippi River, the backbone of the American economy.
Bedrock retains the services of QSL to review the entire development of the Nanticoke site in the Great Lakes, including the management of the steel yard, the upgrading of the port structure and the optimization of operations. QSL now operates this port site.
The brand name is unified. All of the group's Canadian port operations and stevedoring companies, with the exception of joint ventures, now share the same name: QSL. These letters, which alone form the company's new signature, now embody our promise: Tailor-Made Success™.
Commissioning of the “Rotainer”, an advanced technology developed in partnership with Container Rotation Systems (CRS), a company based in Sydney, Australia. This equipment now makes it possible to offer very low emission risk handling to our client Alcoa, in Baie-Comeau.
Launch of the DATA project. This integrated management system will include a combination of the best management software available as well as TC3 (Tracking Cargo 3), an application developed by QSL in collaboration with Vooban, a Quebec-based company. A communication platform is created to allow integrated real-time management of operations and a business intelligence platform is added to it.
QSL becomes joint owner with Groupe Robert of Watson and Sycamore, two road transport companies specializing in oversized cargo. This horizontal integration now allows QSL to offer door-to-door service on docks and on roads across Canada and the United States.
A major surface water treatment system in the Beauport sector is completed and put into service. The network, made up of an underground drainage (nearly 14 km of storm sewer and discharge pipes) and surface water pumping (nearly half a million m²) system from the entire terminal and of a physico-chemical treatment basin, is the only infrastructure of its kind in a port environment on the St. Lawrence and Great Lakes axis.
Denis Dupuis, Founding President and Chairman of the Board of Directors appoints Robert Bellisle as President and Chief Executive Officer. Robert's arrival marks a transition into a new phase of business growth.
This health, safety and environment management software is implemented. This same year, QSL implements Maximo, an asset and supply management system.
Norther Stevedoring, then a QSL subsidiary, obtains the Green Marine certification for its Sept-Îles terminal. Green Marine is an environmental certification program for the North American marine industry.
This rigorous, transparent and inclusive initiative targets priority environmental issues through its 14 distinct performance indicators.
QSL partners with the Ogdensburg Bridge and Port Authority (OBPA), north of New York, to provide logistics and marketing services that will help the organization develop its facilities.
This infrastructure, located at Anse au Foulon, becomes the second largest terminal dedicated to wood pellets in North America. The domes, constructed from sprayed concrete, work together with a fully covered electric articulated telescopic ship loader system to provide the most environmentally friendly handling. This highly efficient and versatile infrastructure was sold to Sollio Agriculture in 2018 and is now used for the storage of wood pellets and grains.
QSL explores Nova Scotia as a partnership is formed with Coastal Stevedoring.
In partnership with the Quebec-based company, Turbo Chrystal (now HKD Snowmaker), stationary water cannons are invented and installed at the Quebec – Beauport terminal. The technology involves the projection of fine water droplets forming a screen and allowing fugitive emissions to be encapsulated in the water in order to push them down to the ground. This invention, which gives a new use to a system initially created to make artificial snow, is now used across the QSL network, but also outside Canadian borders in various industries, such as construction, to control dust emissions.
This subsidiary, dedicated to the development of the mining markets of the North Shore, is located more precisely in the terminals of Sept-Îles, Port-Cartier, Baie-Comeau and Havre-Saint-Pierre. The same year, Great Lakes Stevedoring extended its operating territory to the port of Goderich, in Ontario.
A new partnership is formed with the arrival of Integrated Logistics, a well-established stevedoring company in the ports of Argentia and Long Pond, in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Two new terminals are added to QSL's network through a partnership with the Snider family: Port Weller and Port Colborne. Both ports are located in Ontario, along the Welland Canal.
QSL implements inventory management for mining industry clients with barcodes, from reception to consumption at mine sites. This technology allows us full integration with our clients' inventory systems and is still a relevant innovation today that has been adapted and updated since its conception.
A new partnership is formed with the arrival of Integrated Logistics, a well-established stevedoring company in the ports of Argentia and Long Pond, in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
As Netflix and the first iPhone appear, as Google and Amazon simultaneously formalize the term "cloud computing", QSL implements its first electronic data interchange system (EDI, LP Corp).
The Port of Bécancour is the scene of this first handling of wind turbines, which will be the source of a new invention by QSL: the creation of a hook specially adapted to handling in tandem with reach-stackers.
First milestone in its expansion on American soil, QSL establishes new companies, including North America Stevedoring Company (NASCO), located at the Iroquois Landing Terminal in the great port of Chicago, USA. Nearly one million tonnes of goods pass through it each year, and a multimodal terminal is built in collaboration with Canadian National (CN).
QSL acquires its first portable conveyor. The conveyor is put to the test in the handling of sugar. The trial is so successful that it leads to the establishment of a network of custom-built conveyors to QSL specifications and distributed throughout the network. This same year, QSL begins the first phase of an investment project of more than $45 million aimed at the integration of a vast system of electric conveyors at the Port of Québec, Beauport sector. This innovation allows many diesel-powered wheel loaders to be removed from bulk operations, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
This equipment, better known as "tubs", is designed for handling scrap metal. This innovation now makes it possible to simplify slinging. Unpatented, this invention has been copied extensively in the industry and is still used in the handling of this freighter destined for recycling.
The Port of Bécancour is the scene of this first handling of wind turbines, which will be the source of a new invention by QSL: the creation of a hook specially adapted to handling in tandem with reach-stackers.
As Facebook is founded and the world witnesses the birth of Gmail, QSL is developing the FLASH virtual terminal. This online application enables the optimization of operations by modeling ships, docks, storage areas and cargo.
QSL acquires two gantry cranes and transforms them, in partnership with an engineering firm from Québec, to convert this equipment, originally designed for container handling, for bulk handling.
Great Lakes Stevedoring is created, expanding QSL services to the Port of Hamilton in the Great Lakes.
This tool, www.trackingcargo.com, allows our clients to access the inventory of their goods.
QSL completes the acquisition of Quebec Port Terminals, making QSL the company’s sole shareholder.
Great Lakes Stevedoring is created, expanding QSL services to the Port of Hamilton in the Great Lakes.
A new alumina terminal is built in Quebec – Beauport to include a pneumatic vessel unloading system with fluidifying conveyors and railcar loading.
QSL establishes itself at the Port of Belledune and creates Eastern Canada Stevedoring.
Start of the Tracking Cargo project (TC1) based on the concepts of "Cloud computing" and "Software as a service".
Registration of the QSL.COM domain and launch of the company's very first website: www.qsl.com. A first email is received at the @ qsl.com email address.
QSL creates Oshawa Stevedoring.
QSL’s team of developers and architects creates its first application: a powdered milk inventory management system for the Canadian Commission (SCA Unix and Fox Bass).
The company continues to expand by acquiring St. Lawrence Stevedoring, owned by Groupe Cast. In operation at the Port of Quebec – Beauport sector since its creation by the Webster family at the end of the 19th century, the company was incorporated in 1908.
QSL expands to the Sorel-Tracy region, in Saint-Joseph-de-Sorel, by acquiring Services de Quai Faigen, which will become the Sorel-Tracy Maritime Terminal in 1997. The new port terminal becomes the main freight forwarder terminal for cargo steel and remains the only multi-user private port on the St. Lawrence axis.
In order to ensure operational excellence and uniform training of personnel, a team of experts composed of longshoremen, superintendents and supervisors is created and dispatched through the QSL network. To this day, this practice remains one of our key elements of success in providing our employees and clients with quality service and permanent jobs across our network.
QSL buys 50% of the shares in Murray Bay Marine Terminal, then owned by Groupe Desgagnés and already operating the ports of Bécancour, Cacouna, Matane, Rimouski, Gaspé, Grande-Anse and Pointe-au-Pic. The new entity is renamed Quebec Port Terminals.
Denis Dupuis founds QSL. The company is established in the Anse au Foulon sector at the Port of Québec
