Canada Ports & Corridors

Special Report

RBT2 would increase capacity at the Port of Vancouver( pictured) by nearly 50 %. Xinhua News Agency / Contributor / Getty Images

Regulatory fast track moves stalled Vancouver mega-terminal closer to reality

By Mark Szakonyi

The referral of the Robert Banks Terminal 2( RBT2) at the Port of Vancouver to Canada’ s Major Projects Office( MPO) could jumpstart development of the long-planned facility after more than two decades of deliberations and delays.

The MPO listing the terminal as a project of national interest under the Building Canada Act would“ allow the Minister of the One Canadian Economy to bring RBT2 under one single regulatory window,” expediting the regulatory review process, according to a July 16 statement from the country’ s transport ministry.

“ Canada needs modern transportation infrastructure that helps our businesses compete, gets Canadian goods to new markets, and creates good jobs across the country,” Steven MacKinnon, Minister of Transport and Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, said in the statement.“ By investing in our ports and transportation network, we are growing our economy, strengthening our supply chains, while protecting the environment.”

Announced as a“ key pillar” of the ministry’ s wider Port of Vancouver Gateway Strategy, the referral came just three days after Vancouver Fraser Port Authority officially

selected construction consortium TerraMarine to build the landmass and wharf components of RBT2.

It also comes roughly three months after the port authority and tenant Global Container Terminals( GCT) squashed a multi-year legal battle over the C $ 3 billion($ 2.17 billion) terminal. The port authority and GCT in April agreed to jointly study development of RBT2, tentatively positioning GCT to run the terminal in exchange for dropping its own plans to build a fourth berth at its Deltaport facility, which would share a causeway with RBT2.

In the fall of 2024, Peter Xotta, CEO of the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, told local media the port authority would allow GCT to take part in the selection process for RBT2’ s operator. Under previous leadership, the port authority had argued a third-party operator was needed to keep the terminal competitive, ruling out GCT, which also operates the downtown Vanterm terminal.

“ Given where we’ re at geopolitically and the risk associated with a project of this order of magnitude, it seemed prudent to me and to our board that we didn’ t want to exclude anybody from bringing solutions forward that would help Canada,” Xotta told the Journal of Commerce in late May.“ It’ s up to [ GCT ] to put their best foot forward to the landlord about the merits of them as the operator.”

The sharing of administrative and maintenance facilities with GCT are some of the possible ways to mitigate the rising price tag of the RBT2 terminal, Xotta said. Potentially, both terminals could share a truck gate and the existing rail terminal at Deltaport.

“ GCT has a long history of supporting growth at the Port of Vancouver and remains deeply committed to the success of this gateway,” GCT President and CEO Eric Waltz said in a statement to the Journal of Commerce.“ We have always sought to be part of the solution in advancing strong, reliable trade infrastructure that is so fundamental to Canada’ s economic strength.”

32 Journal of Commerce | August 3, 2026 www. joc. com