Date: Sep 03, 2024

The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority is excited to present Port Day at Canada Place on Saturday, September 21. The public is invited to attend a free, family-friendly event featuring live music, performances, over 40 exciting community exhibits and displays, and a new maritime career zone. This year, the headline act is Delhi 2 Dublin—a Canadian world music group from Vancouver who play a fusion of Bhangra, electronic, funk, dub, reggae, hip hop, Celtic music and a mashup of other genres.  

Port Day is hosted in honour of World Maritime Day to recognize and thank our local maritime community for their invaluable contributions and support in ensuring goods and cargo flow safely and efficiently throughout the region. The maritime community includes shipping and cruise lines, seafarers, barge workers, terminal operators, truckers, railway workers, longshore workers and more.  

“We are proud to host Port Day in celebration of the maritime community and their ongoing efforts to keep trade moving—to support the supply chain and ensure Canadians have reliable access to the goods they use every day,” said Peter Xotta, President and CEO of the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority. “We would like to thank all of our partners for making this event possible, including our lead partners, KTL Transport and the BC Maritime Employers Association.”

Attendees can expect to enjoy live music, food, activities for all ages and a variety of maritime-focused community exhibits, located outdoors on the west promenade at Canada Place. We will also be hosting exhibits in the Vancouver Convention Centre East ballrooms inside Canada Place in the maritime career zone, for prospective employees to learn more about the various career options available at the waterfront and the important work that goes on behind the scenes to keep our port operating smoothly.  

“The BC Maritime Employers Association is proud to be a lead sponsor of Port Day at Canada Place on behalf of our members who play critical roles in the safe and efficient movement of cargo and goods through North America’s most diversified port,” said Mike Leonard, President and CEO of BC Maritime Employers Association.

“As the Port of Vancouver’s largest container drayage provider, KTL is pleased to be a lead sponsor of Port Day at Canada Place. Every day the team at KTL helps transport cargo to and from port terminals—supporting Canadian businesses move crucial trade and Canadians get the products they need,” said Angie Kalhar, KTL President.

The United Nations created World Maritime Day in 1978, and events are held annually to recognize the maritime industry’s contribution to shipping safety, maritime security, and the conservation of the marine environment around the world.  

The theme established for World Maritime Day 2024 is ‘Navigating the future: safety first!”, reflecting the International Maritime Organization’s work to enhance maritime safety and security, in tandem with the protection of the marine environment, while ensuring its regulatory development process safely anticipates the fast pace of technological change and innovation.  

For more information, visit our Port Day event page.  

Event details

  • Date: Saturday, September 21  
  • Time: 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
  • Location: Canada Place, 999 Canada Place  
     

Performance Schedule

  • 12:00 p.m. Exhibitor booths and activities open
  • 12:05 p.m. Traditional Indigenous welcome  
  • 12:10 p.m. Remarks from the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority and partners 
  • 12:15 p.m. Cheque presentation from Holland America Line to the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Mammal Rescue Centre  
  • 12:20 p.m. Leah Barley  
  • 1:00 p.m.  On-water demonstrations  
  • 1:55 p.m.  Uncle Strut 
  • 2:55 p.m.  Wooden Horsemen  
  • 4:00 p.m.  Headliner, Delhi 2 Dublin   
     

Partners

Port Day presented by the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority welcomes the generous support of our two lead partners: KTL Transport (North Point Stage partner) and the BC Maritime Employers Association (Waterfront Community Zone partner). Indigo Parc Canada is our parking partner, and Global BC, Rock 101, Curiocity, @AngieLowis and Miss604 are our media partners.  

About the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority and the Port of Vancouver    

The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority is the federal agency responsible for the shared stewardship of the Port of Vancouver. Like all Canada Port Authorities, we are accountable to the federal minister of transport, and operate pursuant to the Canada Marine Act with a mandate to enable Canada’s trade through the Port of Vancouver, while protecting the environment and considering local communities. The port authority is structured as a non-share corporation, is financially self-sufficient and does not rely on tax dollars for operations. Our revenues come from port terminals and tenants who lease port lands, and from port users who pay various fees such as harbour dues. Profits are reinvested in port infrastructure. The port authority oversees the use of port land and water, which includes more than 16,000 hectares of water, over 1,500 hectares of land, and approximately 350 kilometres of shoreline. Located on the southwest coast of British Columbia in Canada, the Port of Vancouver extends from Roberts Bank and the Fraser River up to and including Burrard Inlet, bordering 16 municipalities and intersecting the traditional territories and treaty lands of more than 35 Coast Salish Indigenous groups. The Port of Vancouver is Canada’s largest port, and the third largest in North America by tonnes of cargo. Enabling the trade of approximately $300 billion in goods with between 140 and 170 countries each year, port activities sustain 132,400 jobs, $9.3 billion in wages, and $16.3 billion in GDP across Canada.   

Media contact

Arpen Rana
Senior Communications Advisor  
phone_android778.239.5264
mail[email protected]