Roberts Bank Terminal 2 named project of national interest

The federal government listed a proposed $5.9-billion container terminal at the Port of Vancouver as a project of national interest on Thursday, a designation meant to cut through 13 years of regulatory reviews and bring the facility into commercial operation by 2035 — four years ahead of its previous target.

Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon announced the listing of Roberts Bank Terminal 2 at a news conference in Delta, B.C., according to a Government of Canada news release. The three-berth terminal would add 2.4 million containers of annual capacity to Canada's largest port and, the government said, support up to $100 billion in annual trade.

"Getting goods to market quickly and reliably is essential to Canada's economic success," MacKinnon said. "Listing this project as a project of national interest gives us greater certainty to move it forward and build a stronger, more efficient trade gateway on the West Coast."

The listing, made under the Building Canada Act, consolidates the remaining federal permits into a single conditions document and ends uncertainty over the project's regulatory timeline. MacKinnon said the designation addresses a problem that has grown more pressing: without the added capacity, port congestion could impose more than $800 million a year in shipping costs on Canadians by 2031.

The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, which is leading the project, has selected TerraMarine as its preferred construction partner. VFPA president and CEO Peter Xotta said at the news conference that a construction team is already assembled. "We're now ready to move definitively forward," Xotta said. "I have never, ever felt the amount of momentum that we have today."

The VFPA has signed mutual benefit agreements with 27 First Nations, and the government said nearly $2 billion will be invested in protections for fish habitat, Pacific salmon, Southern Resident killer whales and other species at risk. A conservation agreement with BC Ferries sets a target of reducing underwater radiated noise from BC Ferries vessels in killer whale habitat by 50 per cent by 2036.

Tsawwassen First Nation Chief Laura Cassidy said her community consents to the project but does not offer unconditional support. "TFN's position on the RBT2 is one of consent, but not unconditional support," Cassidy said at the news conference. "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."

Cassidy said one of the nation's highest priorities is a breach in the Roberts Bank Causeway to improve salmon habitat access. MacKinnon said afterward that Thursday was the first time he had heard the specific request. "I'll take that back, obviously, and we'll be doing a lot of thinking about that," he said during the question-and-answer session captured in the CPAC broadcast of the news conference.

B.C. Premier-elect Lauren Dirksen, also at the news conference, said the province would be a partner in the expansion. "Terminal 2 is about preparing for the future rather than reacting to it," Dirksen said, according to the machine-transcribed CPAC broadcast. "British Columbia will be a strong partner for the expansion of Terminal 2."

The government said the terminal is expected to contribute roughly $3 billion annually to Canada's GDP, generate more than $630 million a year in tax revenue, and cut delivery times between Vancouver and Toronto by approximately 17 per cent. It said container import costs could fall by up to 25 per cent.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said in the release that Canada would not wait for the world to act. "As the world competes for capital, Canada will not wait. We are building a stronger, more independent, and more competitive Canadian economy," Carney wrote.

The Major Projects Office said the terminal received a federal environmental assessment decision statement in 2023 and is now pending final permits. The project was referred to the Major Projects Office in July 2026. The VFPA is expected to reach a final investment decision by mid-2027.