Feds list Port of Vancouver’s $5.9 billion Roberts Bank Terminal 2 as project of national interest

The federal government has listed the Port of Vancouver’s now $5.9 billion Roberts Bank Terminal 2 expansion of container-handling capacity a project of national interest, the second project so designated under Prime Minister Mark Carney’s objective for expanding Canadian trade.

Adjacent to the Deltaport container facility, Terminal 2 is the first part of the Port of Vancouver’s much broader gateway strategy that was submitted to Carney’s major projects office in July to be considered for fast-tracking, and is separate from the Alberta-to-Delta Pacific Link Pipeline proposal, which is undergoing its own, separate process.

The decision to declare Terminal 2, which already has federal environmental approval, a national priority will help smooth over any regulatory issues on the way to the project’s final permitting, according to federal Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon, who was in Delta for the announcement.

Under low clouds and persistent drizzle at a makeshift podium at Deltaport’s bustling terminal, MacKinnon said the Terminal 2 project “moves the dial for our country” in terms of Carney’s ambitions to double Canada’s non-U.S. trade by 2035.

The project calls for filling in a new, 1.3-square-kilometre island adjacent to the existing Deltaport terminal on Roberts Bank and construction of a new three-berth container facility to handle 2.4 million twenty-foot-equivalent units per year of cargo, increasing capacity of the port, already Canada’s biggest, by 50 per cent.

While the listing doesn’t shift any of the project’s timelines, early design and engineering work is slated to start in 2027, with the port to make a final investment decision by September. MacKinnon said the designation will add to its certainty as it travels through final permitting.

Peter Xotta, CEO of the port’s governing Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, said that after 13 years of work, his team has felt momentum for the project increase, and they will be looking to increase its pace.

“There have been times that even we didn’t think it would happen,” Xotta said. “But, wow, here we are making a huge step forward to make this project a reality.”

MacKinnon and Xotta were joined at Friday’s event by Tsawwassen First Nation Chief Laura Cassidy, premier-designate Lorne Doerkson, and a wide roster of Lower Mainland MPs, as well as elected officials from around Metro Vancouver to underline its regional importance.

Terminal 2 is still contentious for its potential environmental impacts. Cassidy, who noted that the project is proceeding in partnership with the Tsawwassen, said her Nation will be holding it to its commitments to be built sustainably.

Cassidy said the Tsawwassen’s “position on the RBT2 is one of consent, but not unconditional support.”

“We continue to have concerns about the impacts of the project and the long-term health of the Fraser River estuary and the Salish Sea,” she added.