Overview
The Pacific Region is home to the largest nexus of international trade infrastructure in Canada, featuring Canada’s busiest port and second busiest airport, offering some of the shortest and most competitive ocean and air routes between Asia and North America and extensive rail network.
The four Canadian Port Authorities in the Region (Nanaimo, Port Alberni, Prince Rupert, and Vancouver) handle close to 180 million tonnes of cargo—over half of total shipping volumes from all Canadian port authorities. The Port of Vancouver, both the largest port in the Region and nationally, handled 146 million tonnes of cargo in 2020—four times more volume than the next largest port in Canada.
The Pacific Region hosts four airports that are part of the National Airport System (Kelowna, Prince George, Vancouver, and Victoria,), with Vancouver International Airport (YVR) being the largest. Pre-pandemic (2019), YVR facilitated the movement of 26 million passengers and 303,000 tonnes of cargo annually. The airport is served by 56 airlines, connecting passengers to 125 non-stop destinations. Furthermore, British Columbia has one of the world’s largest scheduled floatplane operators (Harbour Air) and Canada’s largest passenger helicopter service (Helijet).
In the Region, there are three Class I railways (Canadian National, Canadian Pacific, and BNSF) and four passenger rail services (Amtrak, Rocky Mountaineer, VIA Rail, and West Coast Express) that operate on over 6,300 kilometers of track including through challenging geotechnical terrain.
Transport Canada Presence
Assistant Deputy Minister, Pacific Region: Robert Dick
Size: 542 employees
Offices: 10
- Regional Headquarters in Vancouver, BC
- 9 offices throughout BC:
- Abbotsford;
- Kelowna;
- Nanaimo;
- Prince George;
- Prince Rupert;
- Surrey;
- Victoria;
- Sidney; and
- Vancouver International Airport.
Transport Canada owned assets:
- Three TC-owned and operated airports:
- Penticton;
- Port Hardy; and
- Sandspit.
- Canada’s only certified water aerodrome (Victoria Harbour); and
- Six port facilities:
- Bamfield West;
- Bella Bella;
- False Bay;
- Klemtu;
- Kyuquot; and
- Rivers Inlet (Owikeno).
Robert Dick
Assistant Deputy Minister, Pacific Region
Robert Dick - Assistant Deputy Minister, Pacific Region
Based in Vancouver, Robert Dick is the Assistant Deputy Minister for the Pacific Region, overseeing all of Transport Canada’s programs and operations in the region.
Before joining the department’s team in British Columbia, Robert served in Ottawa as the Director General of Air Policy. In that position, he was responsible for Canada’s Permanent Mission to the International Civil Aviation Organization, international air policy, and domestic aviation sector policies related to air carriers, airports and air navigation services.
Robert has nine years’ experience working in various roles in the Privy Council Office. He has also worked at Public Safety Canada on national cyber security and western economic diversification.
