Port of Vancouver upgrade is referred to Major Projects Office
The referral could speed the long-delayed terminal expansion and pipeline terminus through a single federal process, with the project promising 17,000 jobs.
- On Thursday, Federal Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon referred the Port of Vancouver Gateway Strategy to the Major Projects Office, calling the expansion a "transformational strategy" to accelerate Roberts Bank Terminal.
- Prime Minister Mark Carney recently pledged $10 billion in federal support for the expansion, aiming to boost container capacity by 50 per cent and diversify trade beyond the United States.
- Economic projections estimate $100 billion in new annual trade capacity and 17,000 regional jobs, though the project faces 370 legally binding environmental conditions, the most ever imposed on a Canadian project.
- Under the Building Canada Act, the referral provides a single unified regulatory process for developments of national interest, and immediate consultations with Indigenous communities will begin.
- Despite the 2025 Federal Court dismissal of previous legal challenges, critics warn the terminal expansion could irreversibly damage the Fraser River estuary and habitats of endangered Southern Resident killer whales.
34 Articles
34 Articles
Federal government looking to fast-track Delta port expansion
The federal government is looking to streamline expansion of Delta’s container port as part of an overall strategy to double exports to non-U.S. markets by 2035. On Thursday morning (July 16), federal Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon was joined by his provincial counterpart, Mike Farnworth, Delta MP Jill McKnight, Tsawwassen First Nation Chief Laura Cassidy, and Vancouver Fraser Port Authority president and CEO Peter Xotta, to announce the Ro…
Port Of Vancouver Gateway Strategy Referred To The Federal Major Projects Office
DELTA — Steven MacKinnon, Minister of Transport and Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, announced the referral of the Port of Vancouver Gateway Strategy (Gateway Strategy) to the Major Projects Office (MPO). This strategy and associated pillars, including the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 project (RBT2), is a reported attempt to diversify and grow Canada’s trade capacity and drive economic growth, according to the federal government in a…
Ottawa Refers Vancouver Port Expansion to Major Projects Office
Minister of Transport Steven MacKinnon says Ottawa has referred a major expansion plan for the Port of Vancouver to the Major Projects Office. MacKinnon said the plan, if approved, will help double Canada’s non-U.S. exports in the next 10 years and provide crucial infrastructure for a proposed West Coast oil pipeline. “Just like the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway, the Gateway Strategy represents the kind of nation-building infrastructure tha…
Port of Vancouver’s ‘transformational’ upgrade is referred to Major Projects Office
Upgrading the Port of Vancouver has been referred to Canada’s Major Projects Office for possible fast-tracking, with Federal Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon calling it a “transformational strategy” to grow and diversify trade.
Feds move to fast-track Port of Vancouver expansion as national interest project
Under the Building Canada Act, projects with national interest status get a single conditions document instead of multiple federal permits, a shift that could carry the terminal expansion past its final regulatory hurdle under the Species at Risk Act.
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