About the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority

The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority is an arm’s-length federal agency responsible for the shared stewardship of the lands and waters of the Port of Vancouver. Our mandate, as outlined in the Canada Marine Act, is to enable Canada’s trade objectives on behalf of all Canadians, ensuring goods are moved safely through the Port of Vancouver, while protecting the environment and considering local communities. As a non-shareholder corporation established by the Government of Canada in January 2008, we are accountable to the federal minister of transport. Like all Canada Port Authorities, we are financially self-sufficient, collecting rental income from terminal operators and other tenants as well as various commercial fees. We invest most of our free cash flow after operations in port-related infrastructure to increase capacity to accommodate Canada’s growing demand for trade. We also advance environmental initiatives, and conduct project and environmental reviews of works and projects proposed for port lands and waters. 

The mandate of Canada Port Authorities, as outlined in the Canada Marine Act, are to:

• Contribute to the competitiveness, growth, and prosperity of the Canadian economy
• Organize marine transportation services to satisfy the needs of users at a reasonable cost
• Provide a high level of safety and environmental protection
• Be responsive to local needs and priorities 
• Encourage and take into account input from users and local communities

Governance

The port authority’s board of directors provides governance, oversight, and approval of strategic direction. The appointment criteria and responsibilities of the 11-member board are set out by the Canada Marine Act and our Letters Patent, and members are appointed by the following four bodies:  

• Federal government appoints eight members, seven of which are recommended by port users 
• Province of British Columbia appoints one member  
• Prairie provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba collectively appoint one member 
• 16 municipalities that border the port authority’s jurisdiction collectively appoint one member 

The board’s governance and external relations committee is responsible for overseeing the port authority’s sustainability strategy and policy, monitoring compliance with this policy, and providing oversight and guidance on sustainability matters. This includes annually reviewing sustainability-related policies—including the sustainability, environment, and project and environmental review policies—and reviewing and providing guidance on sustainability reporting. Oversight for managing sustainability impacts is delegated to senior leadership through board committee terms of reference and certain board-level policies. 

The board has adopted policies to guide the organization and to set expectations for the behaviour of directors, executive, and employees. The Code of Ethical Conduct policy provides the foundation for ethical conduct in the workplace and for conducting business ethically and in compliance with the law. It sets expectations and provides guidance on issues including conflict of interest, anti-fraud, anti-corruption, and anti-competitive practice, as well as procedures for reporting instances of real or perceived misconduct. The code applies to all port authority employees and third parties that work with or that represent the port authority. Employees are responsible for completing periodic mandatory education programs pertaining to the code. The code is communicated to third parties through the procurement process. Any employee concerned about unethical or improper conduct at the port authority can contact ConfidenceLine, an external service provider. All reports are addressed promptly and appropriately. The president and CEO—through the director, risk management and assurance, and the vice-president, people, process and performance—is responsible for facilitating and monitoring compliance with the code. 

The port authority’s cross-functional sustainability integration team, comprising senior management from key functional areas, provides strategic advice and recommendations to help integrate sustainability within the organization and align efforts to improve sustainability performance. Additional information on our governance structure can be found here. 

Strategic planning

The port authority’s strategic plan articulates a cohesive set of priorities, goals, and initiatives that address the most critical factors for our continued success and that enable us to fulfill our mission and advance our vision. It also enables port authority employees to align their work and decisions in a common direction.  

The diagram below shows our strategic planning framework: 

Our mandate comes from the Canada Marine Act, which sets out our responsibilities and authority. Our activities are guided by our mission, vision, and values, with our sustainable port definition describing our vision for the Port of Vancouver in greater detail. Our strategic planning elements feed into our strategic plan, our five-year business plan, and our capital plans, and we monitor progress to understand how well we are doing in achieving our goals. 

We carry out a strategic planning process each year to keep our plan current and effective. The key elements of this process are shown in the diagram below. 

Risk management

The port authority has a robust enterprise risk management process in place to identify and respond to significant risks to the port authority’s business and the fulfillment of our mandate. In 2022, potential key risks identified included lack of suitable land to accommodate trade growth, supply-chain coordination issues, inability to finalize commercial agreements, cost overruns on major capital projects, regulatory or policy change, labour disruption, loss of long-term relationships with community and Indigenous groups, significant health or safety incidents, impact of natural disasters, impacts on the environment from port operations and development, spill in harbour or river, and climate change impacts. 

Strategic priorities

Our strategic priorities identify the areas that have the greatest potential to impact our ability to continue delivering on our mission and pursuing our vision, and where we need long-term focus to ensure future success. Our six strategic priorities are:  

• SP-1 Government, Indigenous, and community support: Achieve broad trust and support  
• SP-2 Land supply: Anticipate, deliver, and optimize land supply to support sustainable gateway growth in key sectors  
• SP-3 Infrastructure capacity: Anticipate, select, and deliver new and repurposed capacity to meet new sector demand  
• SP-4 Supply chain: Increase supply-chain efficiency, transparency, and optimize operational capacity to deliver enhanced customer and stakeholder value 
• SP-5 Climate action and ecosystem health: Achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 and make the port resilient to climate change; help reverse biodiversity loss by restoring habitat and protecting species at risk 
• SP-6 Organizational excellence: Build a more connected and engaged culture to drive operational excellence 

To support advancement of each strategic priority, we identify medium-term goals and establish strategic initiatives supported by projects, initiatives, and programs. Progress on strategic initiatives is tracked on a quarterly basis and reported to the president and CEO, and the board. Each strategic initiative includes performance objectives that are included in a corporate balanced scorecard, which are in turn featured in the individual incentive plans for bargaining unit employees, management, and executives. This overall approach and process drives continuous improvement and delivery of the strategic business plan.  

Scenario planning process

We use scenario planning to improve our understanding of key drivers of change that, over the long term, can affect the future success of the port. This process involves a diverse group of representatives from across the port value chain to identify and understand key issues and related implications, and to frame various scenarios for how those issues could play out in the future of the port.  

In 2010, we embarked on Port 2050—a long-range scenario planning process—with over 100 individuals and organizations with a stake in the future of the port. The process identified four plausible scenarios for the future, including one we aspire to: The Great Transition. This scenario represented a shift to a low-carbon economy that balances economic, environmental, and social sustainability. 

In 2022, we launched Port Forward, a scenario planning initiative that brings together senior leaders from across the Greater Vancouver gateway—including Indigenous groups and other levels of government, industry and trade associations, labour, community groups, emerging leaders, and non-government organizations (NGOs)—to develop a new set of futures scenarios. The initiative aims to draw on diverse perspectives to build a collective understanding of key drivers of change and the implication of these changes for our shared future.  

Eight key uncertainties about the gateway’s future were identified through interviews with key stakeholders and senior leaders from across the gateway in 2022. The following key uncertainties form the building blocks for the scenarios: 

• Climate change impacts  
• Global economy, trade, and geopolitics  
• Environmental impacts  
• Energy transition  
• Land use and affordability  
• Technology, data, and automation  
• Governance, democracy, and reconciliation  
• Relationships and trust   

We expect to publish a new set of distinct yet plausible scenarios in the fall of 2023. Drawing on the collective knowledge of the gateway, we will use these scenarios in our strategic planning to test our assumptions about the external business environment and the ways in which the gateway may react, adapt to, or even shape that environment. We invite other organizations to use the scenarios for a similar purpose in their own strategic planning.