Metro Vancouver's Hidden Resource Economy Booms

Metro Vancouver has become the head office, trading floor, and export gateway for Canada's resource economy, despite not having any working mines or oil wells within its city limits.

The region is home to a global cluster of mining finance, with over 1,000 mining and exploration companies worth $449 billion operating from there. The Port of Vancouver, a federal asset, enables trade worth $365 billion annually, moving mostly resources from across Canada and beyond.

The city's economy has been expanded in recent years, particularly with the completion of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion in 2024. This nearly tripled the capacity of the pipeline, connecting Alberta's oil sands to the West Coast, and ended at the Westridge Marine Terminal in Burnaby.

In its first year of operation, crude movements from Alberta to B.C. rose more than fivefold, with the volume of crude exported through B.C. surging more than sixfold. The value of crude oil shipped through B.C. was nearly $13.9 billion in that first year alone.

Another significant project is Woodfibre LNG, a $12.3-billion export plant being built on the region's doorstep. It will produce 2.1 million tonnes of LNG annually, all contracted to BP for 15 years. The Squamish Nation is conducting environmental oversight of the project under 13 legally binding conditions.