Fees and dues at the Port of Vancouver

As an arms-length federal agency that stewards the lands and waters of the Port of Vancouver, we are mandated to facilitate Canada’s trade objectives, ensuring goods are moved safely, while protecting the environment and considering local communities. As part of this role, we lease lands to the terminal operators who move cargo through the port.

Unlike many other ports around the world, our revenues come from tenant rents and port user fees rather than tax dollars. As is the case for all Canada Port Authorities, our fees are mandated under the Canada Marine Act to be fair and reasonable, and designed to ensure the port is competitive and the port authority is financially self-sufficient.

The following fee schedule is applicable to the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority’s jurisdiction:

Port of Vancouver fee document – effective January 1, 2023

For the past decade, funding from the federal government’s Asia Pacific Gateway and Corridor Initiative and the port authority has resulted in significant development of common-use infrastructure in and around the Port of Vancouver. Recognizing that many of the port’s industry stakeholders would benefit from these improvements, the port authority developed a cost-recovery model—the Gateway Infrastructure Fee—in consultation with stakeholders, including shipping associations and port operators. The fee enables the port authority to recover its pre-funding on behalf of industry from port users who are able to increase their operations as a result of the related projects.

The Gateway Infrastructure Program Advisory Committee was established in 2010. The committee is composed of individuals representing terminal operators, tenants, shippers, shipping lines, industry groups and the port. The committee provides feedback on the Gateway Infrastructure Fee, recommends options to communicate with port stakeholders about the fee, and reports back to the stakeholders they represent.

A new wave of common-use infrastructure projects is now underway to further improve the overall fluidity of the gateway, with support from the federal government’s National Trade Corridors Fund. The port authority is developing a new cost-recovery structure to recover our pre-funded contributions, made on behalf of industry. As communicated in August 2020, the port authority has deferred the implementation of this fee by a year, from January 1, 2021 to January 1, 2022, in recognition of the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on some of our industry stakeholders.

The port authority has undertaken two rounds of consultation with industry regarding potential projects and the cost-recovery mechanism and structure.

Phase 1: Priority gateway infrastructure projects (completed March 2017)
The first phase took place in March 2017, when the port authority asked industry stakeholders to provide feedback on 13 projects that were under consideration to receive pre-funding. The port authority received 19 feedback submissions, which helped determine which projects to advance for federal funding in both 2017 and 2019. The following report summarizing feedback received during Phase 1 was distributed to industry stakeholders in July 2017:

Vancouver Fraser Port Authority Priority Gateway Infrastructure Projects Summary Report FINAL July 2017 (including one Appendix report)

Phase 2: Cost recovery mechanism options consultation (completed November–December 2017)
In November and December 2017, the port authority consulted with industry stakeholders regarding proposed cost-recovery structure options. These consultations included distribution of a discussion guide and feedback form, opportunity for feedback submissions, three meetings in Vancouver, one meeting in Toronto and one webinar. The following report summarizing feedback received during Phase 2 was distributed to industry stakeholders in April 2018:

Vancouver Fraser Port Authority Priority Gateway Infrastructure Projects Cost-Recovery Summary Report March 2018 (including three Appendix reports)

Additional communication – December 2020
On December 9, 2020, we provided the following information to customers and industry stakeholders regarding the selection of a cost recovery mechanism:

Phase 3: Information and Feedback Period Regarding Draft Fee Language (completed March 15 to April 7)
In Phase 3, we provided an opportunity for industry stakeholders to review and provide feedback on draft language to be included in the fee document. The following report summarizing feedback received during Phase 3 was distributed to industry stakeholders on April 30, 2021:

Further opportunities for input
There will be one further opportunity for industry input regarding this fee prior to its implementation:

Fee Announcement and 60-Day Comment Period
Prior to implementation of the cost-recovery mechanism on January 1, 2022, there will be a comment period of at least 60 days, as required by the Canada Marine Act.

Additional communications – February 2022
Additional materials related to GIF2022

Our fees are amended regularly to reflect changes in port use, in accordance with Section 49 of the Canada Marine Act. We provide no less than 60 days’ notice when a new fee or a revision to existing wharfage, berthage, or harbour dues is proposed. Other fees or terms may be amended or revoked without prior notice.

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