Frequently Asked Questions

The Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project is a proposed new three-berth marine terminal located approximately 5.5 kilometres offshore at Roberts Bank in Delta, B.C., on Canada’s west coast. The terminal will serve container ships bringing consumer goods from Asia and exporting natural resources from Canada.

More information about the project and its components can be found here.

Demand for goods shipped in containers is growing. Forecasts indicate container traffic on Canada’s west coast will double from 3.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in 2014, to more than 7.0 million TEUs by 2030.

Existing container terminals on Canada’s west coast – in Vancouver and Prince Rupert – will reach capacity by the early 2020s, and so the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority is proposing to build the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project to meet forecasted demand.

More information about the need for the project can be found here.

Roberts Bank is an established trade corridor and a vital part of Canada’s trade with Asia. Roberts Bank has deep water necessary to accommodate large container ships, and is located close to major transportation corridors for the movement of trucks and trains. Substantial infrastructure investments have been made in the last decade in anticipation of increased trade through Roberts Bank, including the $1.2 billion South Fraser Perimeter Road and the $300 million Roberts Bank Rail Corridor Program.

Roberts Bank is also ideal because it allows the terminal to be built in deep water, thereby protecting the shoreline and marine habitat.

The estimated cost of the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project is more than two billion dollars Canadian. The project would be funded by the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority and the private sector and therefore does not require any tax dollars.

The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority has worked with terminal operators to increase capacity at existing terminals. The four existing terminals in Metro Vancouver – Deltaport, Vanterm, Centerm and Fraser Surrey Docks – have undergone improvements in the past decade to maximize their capacity. Further improvements are planned at Deltaport and are being examined at Centerm.

Even with these improvements and planned expansion at the Fairview Container Terminal in Prince Rupert, Canada’s west coast will still need more capacity by the mid-2020s. The Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project would meet Canada’s trade demand.

The Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project would provide substantial benefits to Canada, British Columbia and Metro Vancouver by accommodating increased demand for trade, supporting economic growth, providing employment opportunities during project construction and terminal operation, and providing benefits to Aboriginal groups and neighbouring communities.

During construction, the project would provide more than 12,700 person-years of employment over a five-and-a-half year construction period. Once operating, on-terminal and off-terminal activities would support more than 12,400 well-paying, full-time jobs on an ongoing basis.

The construction of the project would add $1.3 billion to the Canadian economy, and its operation would add $212 million each year.

More detail about the benefits of the project can be found here.

Subject to environmental approvals and permitting, market conditions and a final investment decision, construction of the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project could begin in 2018 and would take approximately five-and-a-half years to complete.

The Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project is undergoing a federal environmental assessment by an independent review panel, under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012, the most stringent such process in Canada. It is also undergoing a provincial environmental assessment under the British Columbia Environmental Assessment Act.

The  independent panel of experts will be appointed by the federal Minister of the Environment. The assessment is expected to  take approximately two to three years to complete.

As the proponent of the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project, the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority was required to undertake studies to meet the requirements of the Environmental Impact Statement Guidelines issued by the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency. The studies were carried out by professional scientists, and are summarized in the Environmental Impact Statement submitted by the port authority to federal and provincial regulators in March 2015.

In total, more than 100 professional scientists contributed to the 77 studies that support the Environmental Impact Statement.

More information regarding studies undertaken, including final reports, can be found here.

The Environmental Impact Statement documents four years of extensive scientific study and consultation with regulators, Aboriginal groups, local government and the public to assess the potential environmental, economic, social, heritage and health effects of the terminal’s construction and operation.

The result of the comprehensive assessment indicates that the project is not expected to cause significant adverse environmental effects. The assessment will be reviewed by an independent panel of experts and will be open for public review and comment.

The environmental assessment process for the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project is being run by federal and provincial regulators and will include multiple opportunities for public comment.

For more information about the federal environmental assessment and how to participate, please visit the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency website.

For more information about the provincial environmental assessment process, please visit the British Columbia Environmental Assessment Office website.

For more information, we invite you to contact us by:

• Emailing container.improvement@portvancouver.com
• Calling 604.665.9337
• Visiting our community office in Ladner (Wednesday-Friday, 10am-6pm or Saturday, 10am-4pm)
  • Port of Vancouver
    Delta Community Office
    Trenant Park Square
    5225A Ladner Trunk Road
    Delta, B.C.