Again, there’s a container terminal handling that.
As you approach the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal, those white Star Wars AT-AT walker-looking things are the ship-to-shore cranes at GCT Deltaport – a hub of countless goods coming and going by sea, rail and truck that fuel the Canadian economy to the tune of billions of dollars annually.
Think Canadian Tire, Lululemon, Sanyo, Nike, Ashley Furniture, or Apple – all products associated with those everyday brand names get their start in British Columbia at GCT Deltaport.
Come June 25, GCT Deltaport will celebrate 25 years of operation with a Community Open House. This Open House will showcase some of the largest marine equipment on North America’s West Coast. Picture a tire the size of a small car or a ship-to-shore crane that rises greater than 90 metres into the sky, with jaw-dropping views of the Olympic Mountains, Vancouver Island and Mount Baker.
The event will also feature a charity raffle, free food, live entertainment, terminal tours, kids’ activities and opportunities to check out equipment.
“I’m really looking forward to connecting with the community, explaining what we do and the importance of our work for the Canadian economy,” says Daniel Howell, vice president of operations for GCT Deltaport. “I’d like people to get a feel for who we are. We’re a very hard-working, collaborative and diverse team.”
For Mike McLellan, the anniversary represents a full-circle journey. Now GCT’s vice president of project development, McLellan was there on Day 1 of operations – it was a Sunday on June 8, 1997.
That first ship, the APL President Truman, saw 1,400 boxes handled. Today, GCT Deltaport handles, on average, about 4,200 boxes on and off—per ship visit.
Ariel shot of GCT Deltaport. Photo via GCT Deltaport Container Terminal.
“We’ve come so far in 25 years, from 1400 boxes in June of 1997, to a point where we’re continuing to grow and expand through new and innovative projects, handling some of the largest vessels operating in these trade lanes. I’m very proud of that fact,” McLellan says.
Fast-forward to today, and GCT Deltaport is an economic driver for the region– and a made-in-B.C. success story – by any metric.
GCT Deltaport spends $30 million in the local economy each year and provides 4.7 million hours of employment across the province. The dollar value going in and out of the terminal on an annual basis is nearing $3 billion.
Almost anything coming from China, Japan or the Far East arrives at GCT Deltaport and makes its way across Metro Vancouver, Canada and points through the U.S. Midwest, including Chicago and Detroit.
The items going out, on the other hand, include some of Canada’s most important natural resources: grain from the Prairies, as well as semi-finished wood products, pulp and lumber from the B.C. Interior.
“We are majority Canadian-owned and headquartered here in Vancouver. We have a proud 115-year history and 25 years in Delta. We are one of Canada’s largest waterfront employers, and we continue to grow that employee base,” Howell says.
While the tenets of safety, pride and professionalism guide what happens on the job, GCT Deltaport also puts a concerted and sustained emphasis on environmental stewardship.
Snapshot of the current fully electrified Intermodal Railyard at GCT Deltaport. Photo: GCT Deltaport Container Terminal.
The Terminal was recently retrofitted entirely with LED lighting, which is energy-efficient, cost-effective and improves safety while reducing light pollution; EV charging stations have been installed for employee vehicles; shore power has been introduced at Berth 3 so ships can plug in, and anti-idling technology is being piloted for machinery across the terminal.
Absolute emission tracking data shows a 14% drop from 2014 to 2021, equating to 18.6 million fewer kilometres driven by a passenger vehicle.
A recently conducted Green Marine audit, tracking environmental sustainability across hundreds of North American ports, saw GCT Deltaport score some of the highest marks on the continent.
“We undertake these types of initiatives to demonstrate our commitment to sustainability, not only to our stakeholders and employees, but importantly to the communities around us in the Greater Lower Mainland, including the Tsawwassen First Nation and the Musqueam First Nation,” McLellan says. “We must continue to demonstrate to everyone that we’re always considering how we can responsibly grow our business without growing our emissions and environmental impact.”
2022 marks GCT Canada’s 25th year as a member of the Delta community and 115th year of operations on the BC Waterfront. GCT Deltaport is honoured to operate within the traditional territories of the Coast Salish Peoples, and in particular, the traditional and treaty territory of the Tsawwassen First Nation and Musqueam Indian Band.
For more info about the 25th anniversary celebration, visit bit.ly/3NrZ4kl.
OTTAWA – Canada’s unemployment rate held steady at 6.5 per cent last month as hiring remained weak across the economy.
Statistics Canada’s labour force survey on Friday said employment rose by a modest 15,000 jobs in October.
Business, building and support services saw the largest gain in employment.
Meanwhile, finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing experienced the largest decline.
Many economists see weakness in the job market continuing in the short term, before the Bank of Canada’s interest rate cuts spark a rebound in economic growth next year.
Despite ongoing softness in the labour market, however, strong wage growth has raged on in Canada. Average hourly wages in October grew 4.9 per cent from a year ago, reaching $35.76.
Friday’s report also shed some light on the financial health of households.
According to the agency, 28.8 per cent of Canadians aged 15 or older were living in a household that had difficulty meeting financial needs – like food and housing – in the previous four weeks.
That was down from 33.1 per cent in October 2023 and 35.5 per cent in October 2022, but still above the 20.4 per cent figure recorded in October 2020.
People living in a rented home were more likely to report difficulty meeting financial needs, with nearly four in 10 reporting that was the case.
That compares with just under a quarter of those living in an owned home by a household member.
Immigrants were also more likely to report facing financial strain last month, with about four out of 10 immigrants who landed in the last year doing so.
That compares with about three in 10 more established immigrants and one in four of people born in Canada.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
The Canadian Institute for Health Information says health-care spending in Canada is projected to reach a new high in 2024.
The annual report released Thursday says total health spending is expected to hit $372 billion, or $9,054 per Canadian.
CIHI’s national analysis predicts expenditures will rise by 5.7 per cent in 2024, compared to 4.5 per cent in 2023 and 1.7 per cent in 2022.
This year’s health spending is estimated to represent 12.4 per cent of Canada’s gross domestic product. Excluding two years of the pandemic, it would be the highest ratio in the country’s history.
While it’s not unusual for health expenditures to outpace economic growth, the report says this could be the case for the next several years due to Canada’s growing population and its aging demographic.
Canada’s per capita spending on health care in 2022 was among the highest in the world, but still less than countries such as the United States and Sweden.
The report notes that the Canadian dental and pharmacare plans could push health-care spending even further as more people who previously couldn’t afford these services start using them.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
As Canadians wake up to news that Donald Trump will return to the White House, the president-elect’s protectionist stance is casting a spotlight on what effect his second term will have on Canada-U.S. economic ties.
Some Canadian business leaders have expressed worry over Trump’s promise to introduce a universal 10 per cent tariff on all American imports.
A Canadian Chamber of Commerce report released last month suggested those tariffs would shrink the Canadian economy, resulting in around $30 billion per year in economic costs.
More than 77 per cent of Canadian exports go to the U.S.
Canada’s manufacturing sector faces the biggest risk should Trump push forward on imposing broad tariffs, said Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters president and CEO Dennis Darby. He said the sector is the “most trade-exposed” within Canada.
“It’s in the U.S.’s best interest, it’s in our best interest, but most importantly for consumers across North America, that we’re able to trade goods, materials, ingredients, as we have under the trade agreements,” Darby said in an interview.
“It’s a more complex or complicated outcome than it would have been with the Democrats, but we’ve had to deal with this before and we’re going to do our best to deal with it again.”
American economists have also warned Trump’s plan could cause inflation and possibly a recession, which could have ripple effects in Canada.
It’s consumers who will ultimately feel the burden of any inflationary effect caused by broad tariffs, said Darby.
“A tariff tends to raise costs, and it ultimately raises prices, so that’s something that we have to be prepared for,” he said.
“It could tilt production mandates. A tariff makes goods more expensive, but on the same token, it also will make inputs for the U.S. more expensive.”
A report last month by TD economist Marc Ercolao said research shows a full-scale implementation of Trump’s tariff plan could lead to a near-five per cent reduction in Canadian export volumes to the U.S. by early-2027, relative to current baseline forecasts.
Retaliation by Canada would also increase costs for domestic producers, and push import volumes lower in the process.
“Slowing import activity mitigates some of the negative net trade impact on total GDP enough to avoid a technical recession, but still produces a period of extended stagnation through 2025 and 2026,” Ercolao said.
Since the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement came into effect in 2020, trade between Canada and the U.S. has surged by 46 per cent, according to the Toronto Region Board of Trade.
With that deal is up for review in 2026, Canadian Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Candace Laing said the Canadian government “must collaborate effectively with the Trump administration to preserve and strengthen our bilateral economic partnership.”
“With an impressive $3.6 billion in daily trade, Canada and the United States are each other’s closest international partners. The secure and efficient flow of goods and people across our border … remains essential for the economies of both countries,” she said in a statement.
“By resisting tariffs and trade barriers that will only raise prices and hurt consumers in both countries, Canada and the United States can strengthen resilient cross-border supply chains that enhance our shared economic security.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
