The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority (VFPA) or Port of Vancouver – Canada’s busiest port, handling $240B in import and export goods – has proposed the creation of a new container shipping terminal adjacent to existing operations at Roberts Bank in Delta, British Columbia. If it proceeds, the project would add 2.4 million TEUs (Twenty-foot Equivalent Units, a standard measure of container traffic) of container capacity to the port’s existing capacity of over 4 million TEUs.
This proposed project is significant in scale, and would be the largest single increase in container terminal capacity in Canada. The VFPA considers this project necessary on the basis of continuation of growth of container traffic on the west coast of British Columbia and privately commissioned third party forecasts.
In 2018, terminals at the VFPA handled close to 3.4 million TEU. Over the last 10 years, total container traffic in British Columbia grew from 2.68 to 4.43 million TEU, with strong growth experienced in both Vancouver and Prince Rupert:
Total container traffic in Vancouver from 2008 to 2018
* Prince Rupert began container operations in late 2007.
Port
TEUs (millions)
2008
2018
Change
Vancouver
2.49
3.40
0.90
Prince Rupert*
0.19
1.04
0.85
Total
2.68
4.43
1.75
Local Indigenous and environmental groups have expressed opposition to the project due to environmental and other concerns.
On May 30, 2016, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada appointed a three member Review Panel to conduct the environmental assessment under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012. The scope of the review was expanded in April 2019 to include the impacts of project-related marine shipping (e.g. impact of vessel traffic on the Southern Resident Killer Whale population).
Transport Canada (TC) provided expert information related to marine shipping and other areas of its mandate to support the Environmental Assessment Review Panel – TC does not have a permitting or approval role for this project.
TC is also participating in the Whole-of-Government Crown Consultation process for this project and will support consultation and accommodation led by the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC) where appropriate, in relation to marine shipping-related concerns raised by Indigenous groups. There are 29 Indigenous groups representing 48 First Nations and Metis Nations in southern BC being consulted on the project.
Public hearings were held between April and June 2019 and the public record closed August 26, 2019. The Review Panel’s report to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada is expected in early 2020.
IAAC is currently planning in-person consultations with Indigenous groups in advance of the panel report to discuss process and identify key issues. Following the Review Panel report there will be phase 3 consultation to explore any outstanding issues and impacts to rights including potential accommodation measures.
The VFPA has engaged with the Indigenous groups, proposed mitigation measures and commitments, and has secured 9 mutual benefit agreements to date with the groups. However, any outstanding impacts to rights will still require consideration and potentially accommodation by the Crown during consultation phase.
Global Container Terminals (GCT), a tenant of the VFPA and operator of the Deltaport container terminal, has proposed a competing expansion project to increase capacity at Roberts Bank. The phased project would deliver a total additional 2.0 million TEUs by 2029-2030, with the option to bring on an initial phase of 0.8 million TEUs.
In order to realize these expansion plans, GCT will have to obtain permits and approvals from the VFPA and other federal authorities such as IAAC and Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
The VFPA holds the view that increased competition at the port would be beneficial to traders and has therefore favored the arrival of a new terminal operator for Robert Banks Terminal 2 as a means of mitigating the pricing power of a single operator. Accordingly, GCT was precluded from bidding to be a partner on Robert Banks Terminal 2 initiative. For its part, GCT has argued that the VFPA has not sufficiently engaged with existing operators in relation to potential expansion projects and has questioned the VFPA’s ability to assess projects in an objective manner given it is advancing its own expansion proposal.
In February 2019, the VFPA informed GCT that the required approvals for its smaller expansion initiative would only be considered as subsequent and incremental to its Robert Banks Terminal 2 project. In response, GCT applied for judicial review of the Port’s actions to force it to consider the terminal’s alternative project. The Attorney General of Canada is also named in the application for judicial review.
In September 2019, the VFPA rescinded its February position and informed GCT that it would now be open to considering their smaller expansion proposal.
