Philip Hochstein
Carol Kerfoot
Eugene Kwan
Paul Landry
Carmen Loberg
Tom Longworth
Penny Priddy
Richard Turner
The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority,d/b/a Port of Vancouver, is a non-shareholder, financially self-sufficient Crown corporation established by the Government of Canada in January 2008, pursuant to the Canada Marine Act, and accountable to the federal Minister of Transport. It is the principal authority for shipping and port-related land and sea use in the Metro Vancouver region. In 2014, it was the third largest port by tonnage in the Americas (displacing New York) and 27th in the world.
Prior to the formation of the new authority, there were three separate port authorities in the Metro Vancouver region: the Port of Vancouver, which was the largest port in Canada; the Fraser River Port Authority; and the North Fraser Port Authority.
Although the ports were financially self-sufficient, the federal legislation governing the authorities generated some inefficiency because the port authorities, legally separate entities, were forced to compete with each other economically for business. This inefficiency came to the attention of the local media in 2006 when it was found that the recently expanded Fraser Surrey Docks, operated by the Fraser River Port Authority in New Westminster, were sitting idle after their principal shipping partner, CP Ships, relocated to the Port of Vancouver, already nearing capacity. Some critics opposed the possible merger as they felt the new authority would not recognize the unique concerns of the Fraser River.
To increase the efficiency of the ports of Metro Vancouver, the federal Minister of Transport permitted the three authorities to study the benefits of amalgamating in June 2006. The resulting report highlighted several benefits of amalgamation, and on June 16, Transport Canada granted a "certificate of intent to amalgamate port authorities". On December 21, 2007, the government of Canada published a certificate of amalgamation that allowed the three port authorities to merge into one effective January 1, 2008. The resulting entity became known as Port Metro Vancouver.