Canada: the Port of Vancouver

Abstract

The port of Vancouver is the most important port in Canada. Despite the fact that Canada’s economy is wholly intertwined with that of the United States, the port of Vancouver is managed on entirely different lines from ports in the United States. In Canada the law stipulates that the responsibility for the ports is a national matter. Despite this clear choice, the central theme running through the political history of Canada is the recurring discussion on the desired divisions of authority between the national and local levels. The next section provides a broad sketch of the economy and function of the Canadian ports. The third section concentrates on the position of the port authority of Vancouver. Sections four, five and six shed light on the institutional format of nautical management, port planning and port services. Finally, section seven contains the analysis.