Roberts Bank Terminal 2 is a proposed new marine container terminal on Canada’s west coast led by the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority. If approved and built, Roberts Bank Terminal 2 would play a critical role in supporting Canadian exporters and consumers of goods who increasingly want to trade with economies around the world.
The Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project involves the construction of a new three-berth marine container terminal in the Port of Vancouver in Delta, British Columbia. The terminal would be located in deep, subtidal waters to minimize environmental effects. The project would be funded by the financially self-sufficient port authority and private investment.
View an in-depth look at the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 project and the global container shipping industry.
Project status
The Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project has been undergoing a federal environmental review since 2013. In 2016, an independent review panel was appointed by the minister of environment and climate change to lead the assessment, under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012.
The review phase of the environmental assessment concluded in August 2019 with the closing of the public record following a six-week public hearing. The independent review panel evaluated what they heard and the information received throughout the environmental assessment process to develop its Federal Review Panel Report for the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project. This was submitted to the minister of environment and climate change in March 2020.
In August 2020, the government requested we provide further information, through an information request. As a result, the federal timeline for decision-making was paused, and will resume once the information provided satisfies the request. After more than a year of additional technical work, consultation with 46 Indigenous groups, and engagement with federal agencies, we recently submitted our response to the information request. In December 2021, the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC) commenced a public comment period to seek feedback from the public, Indigenous groups, regulators, and other stakeholders on our response and the draft conditions (requirements that the port authority must comply with should the project proceed).
We are hopeful that a decision on the project can be made as quickly as possible to make sure the project is built in time to support Canadian importers and exporters who rely on the Port of Vancouver to get their goods to and from foreign markets.
The project is also subject to regulatory approvals and permits, market conditions, and a final investment decision. Construction would take approximately six years.
Project components
There are three main components of the proposed Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project:
- A new three-berth marine container terminal
- A widened causeway to the mainland to accommodate additional road and rail infrastructure
- An expanded tug basin to accommodate a second tug operations contractor
