Port of Vancouver’s ‘transformational’ upgrade is referred to Major Projects Office

Piles of coal at the Westshore coal export terminal at Roberts Bank and gantry cranes used to load and unload containers onto and from cargo ships are seen at Deltaport, in Tsawwassen, B.C., on Monday, September 9, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

The federal government has referred a plan to vastly expand the Port of Vancouver to Canada’s Major Projects Office for possible fast-tracking, boosting a project that environmentalists have fought for years.

Federal Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon said at a news conference at the Roberts Bank port terminal in Delta, B.C., on Thursday that the expansion is a “transformational strategy” to grow and diversify trade.

MacKinnon said the upgrades known as the Gateway Strategy will aim to boost trade capacity and allow Canada to reach more global markets such as the Indo-Pacific region.

“Canada needs modern transportation infrastructure that helps our businesses compete, gets Canadian goods to new markets, and creates good jobs across the country,” MacKinnon said in a statement.

“By investing in our ports and transportation network, we are growing our economy, strengthening our supply chains, while protecting the environment.”

MacKinnon said the upgrades will centre on four “key pillars” including Roberts Bank Terminal 2, a proposed three-berth terminal that would increase the port’s container capacity by 50 per cent.

The minister said the new container terminal would then enable $100 billion in new trade capacity annually, potentially contributing $3 billion to Canada’s GDP each year.

Environmental groups have long opposed the port’s expansion, warning of harms to endangered species and other potential deleterious effects.

Lucero González, a conservation and policy campaigner with the Wilderness Committee, said the plan to fast-track the project is an “extremely concerning move.”

“Standing up against extinction, standing up against mega projects that threaten endangered species will never be for nothing,” she said, adding that the project is not a “done deal.”

“If anything, it is almost reinvigorating the argument of how bad this project is for the economy, for jobs, for the environment, and for the communities around the Fraser River estuary,” she said, adding that critics will not stop opposing this project.

“Our environmental concerns for the project remain exactly the same that they were 10 years ago.”

González said the Southern Resident Killer Whale populations are declining, and fears abound that the Carney government is bypassing permitting processes and legal protections for endangered species.

She said the announcement signals the federal government’s willingness to “trample” communities in order to get projects built, regardless of the environment impacts.

“We have more questions than answers at this moment,” González said. “But it is very concerning to think that even knowing that this project will push the Southern Resident Orcas closer to extinction, they are so comfortable to expedite the process and to continue with this project.”

The Vancouver Board of Trade, meanwhile, said the announcement is “a big win for the British Columbia business community and the Canadian economy.”

“By taking a holistic approach to the growth of our Pacific gateway, the federal government is injecting the urgency our economy and supply chains need,” the board’s president, Bridgitte Anderson, said in a statement.

Other pillars in the upgrade include plans to expand capacity of bulk terminals through land use and infrastructure improvements. Part of the expansion includes the 16-hectare Fraser Wharves terminal site in Richmond, B.C., with the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority set to launch the process to select its operator next week.

Alberta’s West Coast oil pipeline proposal — which would terminate at Roberts Bank and also has a major-project referral — is being considered as part of the port infrastructure plans.

There are also plans to expand and optimize rail infrastructure linking to the port, as well as related environmental protections for the habitat of Southern Resident killer whales.

The Grain Growers of Canada said the group is also supporting the announcement but noted the importance of including investments in rail to the equation.

“The success of the Gateway Strategy will ultimately depend on addressing long-standing rail bottlenecks, beginning with the Second Narrows rail crossing,” the Grain Growers’ statement said, noting the importance in rail links in boosting Canada’s competitiveness globally.

Vancouver Fraser Port Authority president Peter Xotta said that the port is set to “play an outsized role” in Ottawa’s plans to double exports to markets outside North America.

The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada, handling more cargo than the next five largest Canadian ports combined.

“Today’s announcement will help the Port of Vancouver and our partners get game-changing projects like Roberts Bank Terminal 2 built, and move more of what Canadians make, mine, harvest and grow to more customers around the world,” Xotta said.

The Port of Vancouver announced earlier in the week that it had selected TerraMarine as its construction partner for Terminal 2, which will require a land mass to be built beyond existing lands at Roberts Bank.

The government said in a news release that the Major Projects Office will immediately begin consulting with Indigenous communities about the port upgrades.

Other B.C. projects that have already received referral include the Ksi Lisims LNG project, Phase 2 of LNG Canada’s Kitimat facility, the North Coast Transmission Line and the Red Chris copper mine expansion.

This report by Darryl Greer, The Canadian Press, was first published July 16, 2026.