The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority is assessing the best model of developing Roberts Bank Terminal 2. The Authority has proposed the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 project in Vancouver in 2015. The Authorities role is to take the project through the federal environmental review process, and then, if approved, contract companies and others to design, build, and maintain the terminal land base and related infrastructure. The building selection process would begin closer to the completion of the federal environmental assessment. The Authority has initiated project procurement in parallel with the environmental assessment process to ensure the capacity provided by the project can be available when it is required as early as the mid-2020s.

As with all container terminals at the Port of Vancouver, the port authority would not operate the terminal, but instead could contract with a third-party terminal operator who would become a tenant of the port authority. The terminal operator would decide how the terminal operates. This includes what types of equipment would be used, terminal facilities, and ongoing container-handling operations. It would also employ the on-terminal workers.

The Authority is undertaking separate procurements for the terminal operator and the infrastructure developer.

Terminal operator will be procured through a competitive process and will be in place in advance of the procurement for the infrastructure developer. For a period of up to 40 years, the terminal operator will be responsible for terminal facilities, equipment and ongoing container handling operations.  In 2015, more than 10 potential bidders responded to the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority’s request for qualifications (RFQ) in the competitive process to select a terminal operator for the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 project. In January 2016, the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority issued a request for proposals (RFP) to five shortlisted teams, with submissions due in the fall of 2016. This process, which was monitored by a fairness advisor, is ongoing and commercially confidential negotiations with the preferred proponent have begun. 

Infrastructure Developer will be procured following the selection of a terminal operator. The infrastructure developer will be responsible for designing, building, financing and maintaining the terminal land base and related infrastructure, including the berth structure. The port authority will synchronize the infrastructure developer procurement with the environmental assessment decision process.