Shipping to Port of Vancouver

The Port of Vancouver is the largest port in Canada and the fourth largest in North America by tonnes of cargo, facilitating trade between Canada and more than 170 world economies. The Port of Vancouver is managed by the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, which was created in 2008 as an amalgamation of the former Port of Vancouver, the North Fraser Port Authority, and the Fraser River Port Authority. The Port of Vancouver is the principal authority for shipping and port-related land and sea use in the Metro Vancouver region.

The Port of Vancouver is managed by the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, formerly called Port Metro Vancouver. The Port of Vancouver was created with the responsibility for the stewardship of the federal port lands in and around Vancouver, British Columbia. The Port of Vancouver was created as a financially self-sufficient company that is accountable to the federal minister of transport and operates pursuant to the Canada Marine Act. The Port of Vancouver port authority and port terminals and tenants are responsible for the efficient and reliable movement of goods and passengers, integrating environmental, social and economic sustainability initiatives into all areas of port operations.

The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority is the federal agency responsible for the stewardship of the lands and waters that make up the Port of Vancouver, Canada’s largest port. Trade through the Port of Vancouver connects Canadian businesses and consumers with the variety of products that we use every day from markets across the globe, and generates tax revenues and secure employment for local communities.

Port of Vancouver: Canada’s largest port

Located on the southwest coast of British Columbia, the Port of Vancouver extends from Roberts Bank and the Fraser River up to and including Burrard Inlet. Geographically, the Port of Vancouver includes more than 16,000 hectares of water, more than 1,500 hectares of land and hundreds of kilometers of shoreline, bordering 16 municipalities and intersecting the traditional territories and treaty lands of several Coast Salish First Nations.

The Port of Vancouver is about the same size as the next five largest Canadian ports combined. Home to 29 major terminals, the port is able to handle the most diversified range of cargo in North America: bulk, containers, breakbulk, liquid bulk, automobiles and cruise. As the country’s gateway to over 170 trading economies around the world, the Port of Vancouver handles $1 of every $3 of Canada’s trade in goods outside of North America. Enabling the trade of approximately $275 billion in goods, port activities sustain 115,300 jobs, $7 billion in wages, and $11.9 billion in GDP across Canada.