Project facts

Roberts Bank Terminal 2 is a proposed new marine container terminal on Canada’s west coast led by the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority. As part of our federal mandate to protect the environment and consider local communities, we conducted a series of studies to better understand existing conditions at Roberts Bank. We established technical advisory groups to gather expert advice on the Roberts Bank ecosystem. Environmental work, including scientific field work at Roberts Bank, is ongoing and we continue to engage with communities and consult with Indigenous groups. If approved and built, Roberts Bank Terminal 2 will play a critical role in supporting Canadian businesses, exporters, and consumers across the country. The project will create local, well-paying jobs, and will help strengthen the Canadian economy.

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, if approved by the federal government, will be funded by the financially self-sufficient port authority and private investment, not tax dollars.

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About the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority

The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority is the federal agency responsible for the stewardship of the Port of Vancouver, Canada’s largest port. Our mandate is to enable Canada’s trade objectives, ensuring goods are moved safely through the Port of Vancouver, while protecting the environment and considering local communities. We work in the public interest on behalf of all Canadians.

Part of our role is to ensure the Port of Vancouver is ready to handle Canada’s future trade. This includes ensuring land is available and developed for trade, including terminals, roads and support services.

We have identified that Canada’s trade in containers is growing, and that the West Coast will run out of marine container terminal space my the mid- to late- 2020s. By building the land for Roberts Bank Terminal 2 and leasing it to a terminal operator, the port authority will help ensure our national trade objectives are met, in a manner that protects the environment and considers local communities.

Overall importance of Roberts Bank Terminal 2 to Canada

The Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project is essential to meeting Canada’s trade ambitions with Asia.

$1 in every $3 of Canada’s trade in goods outside of North America goes through the Port of Vancouver
Historic data and independent forecasts show that demand for trade of goods shipped in containers is growing
The west coast of Canada will run out of room to manage growing Canadian trade with Asia as early as the mid-2020s
The Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project is the best option to meet growing demand for goods shipped in containers

Economic benefits of the project

The Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project would support economic growth for all Canadians and create thousands of well-paying jobs.

The construction of the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project would create over 12,000 jobs
Its operation would support over 12,000 jobs, including 1,500 jobs directly related to terminal operations
The terminal, once operating, would add about $200 million in government taxes, and $1.2 billion in GDP annually

How the environment will be protected

We have a federal mandate to protect the environment—something we take very seriously. This is supported by our strong track record of mitigating potential effects of projects, and developing offsets, including habitat, in the Fraser River estuary. As we continue work on the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project, we look forward to working with our partners and Indigenous groups as we take meaningful steps to protect the environment at Roberts Bank.

The terminal is located in deep water, far from sensitive habitat closer to shore
More than 77 studies by more than 100 independent professional scientists, with input from Indigenous groups and regulators, were undertaken over four years and have helped shape the environmental assessment of the project
82 project commitments aimed to integrate and build on consultation input including:
- Construction environmental management sub-plans
- Operation environmental management sub-plans
- Follow-up program elements
- Additional commitments, including measures related to Indigenous groups, community and regulator topics of interest

Extensive and ongoing consultation part of project development

The port authority has a mandate to consider local communities in all development and operations. We have already completed extensive consultation and will conduct more in later stages of the project.

Consultation and engagement are ongoing, with more than 440 meetings with regulators, Indigenous groups, local government, stakeholders and the public to date
The project design has been altered, and additional mitigation measures added in response to feedback received

The Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project

What is the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project?

Why build another terminal at Roberts Bank?

What happens if we don’t build Roberts Bank Terminal 2?

Who will pay for the project?

When will the project be built?

How has the container shipping industry changed over the last decade?

Planning for the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project

Has the port authority assessed alternative options?

The development of a second container terminal at Roberts Bank has been contemplated since the late 1990s. Since that time, the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority has engaged with regulators, Indigenous groups and stakeholders to refine the project and identify alternative options for carrying it out.

In planning to meet demand, the port authority explored and pursued a number of opportunities to increase container terminal capacity. We have:

Increased the size and efficiency of existing container terminals
Improved road and rail connections, to handle more containers
Explored whether other port terminals could be converted to handle containers
Examined the possibility of building a new terminal

The port authority has worked with terminal operators to increase capacity at existing terminals. The four existing terminals at the Port of 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 underway at Centerm.

Planned improvements to increase container capacity at the Port of Vancouver as well as at the Port of Prince Rupert in northern British Columbia are at various stages of the planning and permitting processes, and will alleviate capacity constraints on the West Coast until RBT2 can be delivered.

A new marine container terminal requires:

Deep water
Flat land
Access to the national road and rail network
A local population base to provide sufficient labour

The port authority evaluated the technically and economically feasible options for delivering increased container capacity and determined that the proposed location for a new terminal, Roberts Bank Terminal 2, was the best option to accommodate Canada’s growing trade with the least environmental impact. In the Federal Review Panel Report, the independent review panel concluded that our assessment of alternative means was appropriate.

When will Canada run out of West Coast marine container terminal capacity?

How are you working with Indigenous groups?

A thorough, rigorous environmental assessment

Where in the environmental assessment process is the project?

What type of work was done as part of the environmental assessment?

Benefits from the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project

What economic benefits will the project bring to the Canada, British Columbia, and Metro Vancouver?

Will the terminal be automated?

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