Port Metro Vancouver

General information
Founded	Amalgamation January 1, 2008
Former authorities prior to amalgamation	- Port of Vancouver Port of Vancouver The Port of Vancouver was the name of the largest port in Canada, the largest in the Pacific Northwest, and the largest port on the West Coast of North America by metric tons of total cargo, with 76.5 million metric tons...  - North Fraser Port Authority  - Fraser River Port Authority
Coordinates Geographic coordinate system A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system that enables every location on the Earth to be specified by a set of numbers. The coordinates are often chosen such that one of the numbers represent vertical position, and two or three of the numbers represent horizontal position...  - Latitude Latitude In geography, the latitude of a location on the Earth is the angular distance of that location south or north of the Equator. The latitude is an angle, and is usually measured in degrees . The equator has a latitude of 0°, the North pole has a latitude of 90° north , and the South pole has a...  - Longitude Longitude Longitude is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east-west position of a point on the Earth's surface. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees, minutes and seconds, and denoted by the Greek letter lambda ....	(for former Port of Vancouver) 49°16'37" N 123°07'15" W
Area Area Area is a quantity that expresses the extent of a two-dimensional surface or shape in the plane. Area can be understood as the amount of material with a given thickness that would be necessary to fashion a model of the shape, or the amount of paint necessary to cover the surface with a single coat...  - Coastline  - Land  - Water	600 kilometres Unknown Unknown
Major marine terminals Dock (maritime) A dock is a human-made structure or group of structures involved in the handling of boats or ships, usually on or close to a shore.However, the exact meaning varies among different variants of the English language...	28, including automobile (2), breakbulk (2), bulk (19), containers (4) and cruise (2)
Foreign vessel calls	2,791
Annual container volume	2.2 million TEU
Annual cargo tonnage	102 million metric revenue tons
Value of cargo handled	More than $75 billion CAD Canadian dollar The Canadian dollar is the currency of Canada. As of 2007, the Canadian dollar is the 7th most traded currency in the world. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or C$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies...
Cruise Cruise ship A cruise ship or cruise liner is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are part of the experience, as well as the different destinations along the way...  traffic	898,473 passengers 256 sailings
Direct Gross Domestic Product (GDP)	$10.5 billion CAD Canadian dollar The Canadian dollar is the currency of Canada. As of 2007, the Canadian dollar is the 7th most traded currency in the world. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or C$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies...  (estimated)
Jobs	129,500 in Canada 47,700 direct jobs in B.C.
VFPA Board of Directors
Chair Vice Chair	Sarah Morgan-Silvester Sarah Morgan-Silvester Sarah Morgan-Silvester is the Chancellor of the University of British Columbia since November 19, 2008.-Biography:Born in Victoria, British Columbia, she received a B.A. in Finance with Honors from the University of British Columbia in 1982. She has worked for HSBC Bank Canada and the C. D... R. V. (Bob) Wilds
Other board members	Anne Bancroft-Jones Robert James Carwell Pat Jacobsen Eugene Kwan Tom Longworth Craig Neeser Helen Sparkes Marcella Szel T. Richard Turner
President and CEO	Robin Silvester
Official Website

Port Metro Vancouver (legally Vancouver Fraser Port Authority) is a non-shareholder, financially self-sufficient corporation, established by the Government of Canada in January 2008, pursuant to the Canada Marine Act, and accountable to the federal Minister of Transport. It is the principal authority for shipping and port

Port

A port is a location on a coast or shore containing one or more harbors where ships can dock and transfer people or cargo to or from land....

-related land and sea use in the Metro Vancouver region. Port Metro Vancouver is the largest port in Canada and fourth largest tonnage port in North America.

Prior to merger

Prior to the formation of the new authority, there were three separate port authorities in the Metro Vancouver region: the Port of Vancouver

Port of Vancouver

The Port of Vancouver was the name of the largest port in Canada, the largest in the Pacific Northwest, and the largest port on the West Coast of North America by metric tons of total cargo, with 76.5 million metric tons...

, which was the largest port in Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

; the Fraser River

Fraser River

The Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Mount Robson in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia at the city of Vancouver. It is the tenth longest river in Canada...

 Port Authority; and the North Fraser Port Authority.

Although the ports were financially self-sufficient, the federal legislation governing the authorities generated some inefficiency because the port authorities, legally separate entities, were forced to compete with each other economically for business. This inefficiency came to the attention of the local media in 2006 when it was found that the recently expanded Fraser Surrey Docks, operated by the Fraser River Port Authority in New Westminster, were sitting idle after their principal shipping partner, CP Ships

CP Ships

CP Ships was a large Canadian container shipping company, prior to being taken over by Hapag Lloyd in late 2005. CP Ships had its head office in the City of Westminster in London and later in the City Place Gatwick development on the property of London Gatwick Airport in Crawley, West Sussex.The...

, relocated to the Port of Vancouver, already nearing capacity.

Some critics opposed the possible merger as they felt the new authority would not recognize the unique concerns of the Fraser River

Fraser River

The Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Mount Robson in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia at the city of Vancouver. It is the tenth longest river in Canada...

. John Cummins, Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 for Delta—Richmond East

Delta—Richmond East

Delta—Richmond East is a federal electoral district in the province of British Columbia, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 2004.-Geography:It is located in the Metro Vancouver, and consists of:...

, called the merger a "sellout" of the North Fraser River Authority to international shippers.

To increase efficiency of the ports of Metro Vancouver, the federal Minister of Transport

Minister of Transport (Canada)

The Minister of Transport is the Minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for overseeing the federal government's transportation regulatory and development department, Transport Canada...

 permitted the three authorities to study the benefits of amalgamating the three authorities in June 2006. The resulting report highlighted several benefits of amalgamation, and on June 16, Transport Canada

Transport Canada

Transport Canada is the department within the government of Canada which is responsible for developing regulations, policies and services of transportation in Canada. It is part of the Transportation, Infrastructure and Communities portfolio...

 granted a "certificate of intent to amalgamate port authorities". On December 21, 2007, the government of Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 published a certificate of amalgamation that allowed the three port authorities to merge into one effective January 1, 2008.

Post-merger

Since the merger, the port authority has been embroiled in controversy in Mission

Mission, British Columbia

Mission, the core of which was formerly known as Mission City, is a district municipality in the province of British Columbia, Canada. It is situated on the north bank of the Fraser River overlooking the City of Abbotsford and with that city is part of the Central Fraser Valley. Mission is the...

, British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

 over plans to build a barge container port on an environmentally sensitive wetland

Wetland

A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally. Wetlands are categorised by their characteristic vegetation, which is adapted to these unique soil conditions....

. The port authority has admitted that such plans existed prior to the merger and that they did not consult the community beforehand. Proponents argue that the new terminal will reduce emissions and truck traffic throughout the region and ease capacity problems, while critics feel that truck traffic may move to Mission and cause traffic and environmental problems there. Many residents are also concerned that the container terminal will be unsightly.

Business Sectors

Port Metro Vancouver offers 28 deepsea and domestic marine terminals that service five business sectors: automobiles, breakbulk, bulk, containers and cruise.

Bulk Terminals

• Alliance Grain Terminal
• Canexus Chemicals
• Cargill
• Cascadia
• Fibreco
• Ioco
• Kinder Morgan Vancouver Wharves
• Kinder Morgan Westridge
• Lantic Inc.
• Neptune Bulk Terminals
• Pacific Coast Terminals
• Pacific Elevators
• Petro-Canada
• Richardson International
• Robert's Bank Coal Terminals
• Shellburn
• Stanovan
• Univar Canada Terminal
• West Coast Reduction
• Westshore Terminals